In a devastating turn of events, a Coast Guard official confirmed on Thursday that the five individuals aboard a missing submersible Titanic had met their untimely demise in a “catastrophic” incident.
The extensive search for the vessel, lost during an expedition to the iconic Titanic, has concluded with a somber outcome.
OceanGate Expeditions, expressing deep sorrow, stated, “These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure and a profound commitment to exploring and safeguarding the Earth’s oceans. Our hearts go out to these five souls and their families during this tragic time.”
The wreckage of the submersible was discovered on Thursday morning by an unmanned deep-sea robot deployed from a Canadian ship. It was located approximately 1,600 feet (488 meters) away from the bow of the century-old wreck, resting at a depth of 2-1/2 miles (4 km) beneath the ocean surface. Rear Admiral John Mauger of the US Coast Guard revealed this information during a press conference, noting that the debris observed was consistent with a catastrophic failure of the pressure chamber.
Numerous rescue teams from various nations have dedicated days to scouring thousands of square miles of open seas, utilizing planes and ships, in the hopes of finding any signs of the 22-foot (6.7-meter) Titan, operated by OceanGate Expeditions, a US-based organization.
The submersible had lost contact on Sunday morning, approximately one hour and forty-five minutes into its planned two-hour descent, severing communication with its support ship. Among the five individuals aboard were Hamish Harding, a 58-year-old British billionaire and explorer; Shahzada Dawood, a 48-year-old Pakistani-born business magnate, and his 19-year-old son Suleman, both British citizens; Paul-Henri Nargeolet, a 77-year-old French oceanographer and Titanic expert who had made numerous visits to the wreck; and Stockton Rush, the American founder and CEO of OceanGate, who was piloting the submersible.
Earlier this week, the detection of undersea sounds using sonar buoys dropped from Canadian aircraft had briefly raised hopes that the submersible’s occupants might be alive and attempting to communicate by striking the hull. However, officials cautioned that the analysis of the sounds was inconclusive, and there remained uncertainty as to whether the noises originated from the Titan at all.
Even if the submersible had survived, the estimated air supply on board was limited to 96 hours upon entering the water on Sunday at 8 a.m. (1200 GMT), indicating that the occupants likely exhausted their oxygen supply by Thursday morning.
The ill-fated Titanic, which sank during its maiden voyage in 1912 after colliding with an iceberg, resulting in the loss of over 1,500 lives, rests approximately 900 miles (1,450 km) east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and 400 miles (640 km) south of St John’s, Newfoundland.
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