The U.S. Coast Guard announced on Thursday that a deep-sea Titanic submersible that was lost after a “catastrophic implosion” that killed everyone on board was located in pieces. The search for the submersible had taken place internationally for five days.
U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger told reporters that on Thursday morning, a robotic diving vehicle sent out from a Canadian ship discovered a debris field from the submersible Titan on the seabed about 1,600 feet (488 meters) from the bow of the Titanic, 2 1/2 miles (4 km) beneath the surface, in a remote area of the North Atlantic.
The Titan, a vessel owned and run by the American company OceanGate Expeditions, went missing on Sunday morning about an hour and a half into a dive that was supposed to take two hours to reach the world’s most famous shipwreck, Titanic.
The 22-foot (6.7-meter) Titan’s tail cone and two pieces of its pressure hull were among five significant pieces discovered in the Titan’s wreckage, according to Coast Guard officials. There was no indication of whether or not any human remains were found near Titanic ruins.
“The debris field here is consistent with a catastrophic implosion of the vehicle,” Mauger said.
There were no survivors among the five men aboard the Titan, including Stockton Rush, the company’s founder and CEO, who was operating the Titan, according to a statement from OceanGate that was released before to the Coast Guard’s press conference.
People Onboard in Titanic Voyage Sub
The other three were British nationals Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his 19-year-old son Suleman; British billionaire and explorer Hamish Harding; and French oceanographer and famous Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77, who had visited the wreck numerous times.
“These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world’s oceans,” the company said. “Our hearts are with these five souls and every member of their families during this tragic time.”
Teams of searchers and support staff from the United States, Canada, France, and Great Britain had spent days using planes and ships to scour thousands of square miles of open water for any sign of the Titan.
The aftermath of a considerably worse maritime calamity that resulted from the wreck of a migrant vessel off the coast of Greece last week, which killed hundreds of people, was virtually ignored by the intense global media coverage of the hunt.
To read our blog on “Exploration of Titan sub aggravate hrs of oxygen left only,” click here.
