The Coast Guard confirmed a few hours later that the field of debris was “consistent with the catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber.” The Titan had imploded, although the exact timing of the event was not yet known. There were reports of banging noises in the search area on Wednesday, and the Coast Guard announced midday Thursday that a debris field had been discovered near the Titanic shipwreck. A massive search and rescue effort swiftly ramped up as the submersible only had approximately 96 hours of oxygen reserves on board.įor the first couple of days, the international team of rescuers offered few updates on the progress of the search, which eventually spanned an area twice the size of Connecticut, or more than 10,000 square miles. On board were five passengers, including a French maritime expert, a billionaire British explorer, a British Pakistani tycoon and his teenage son, as well as Stockton Rush, the founder and CEO of OceanGate, the company leading the expedition to the Titanic. The craft, called the Titan, went missing in the North Atlantic Ocean on Sunday morning less than two hours after being deployed by a former Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker called the Polar Prince. The sub had suffered a “catastrophic implosion.” All five crew members are believed to be dead. The US Coast Guard delivered some difficult news at a Thursday afternoon press conference: Pieces of the submersible vessel that had been lost for nearly five days had been found about 1,600 feet from the bow of the Titanic. The story that follows was originally published on June 21 and has been updated throughout. The company said in a statement, “We now believe that our CEO Stockton Rush, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood, Hamish Harding, and Paul-Henri Nargeolet, have sadly been lost.” OceanGate, the company that operates the Titan submersible, said that the crew of the sub is dead. Editor’s note, June 22, 4:40 pm ET: The Titan submersible suffered a “catastrophic implosion,” the US Coast Guard announced on Thursday afternoon.

Lost submarine update