A submersible that was exploring the wreckage of the RMS Titanic on the ocean floor suffered a “catastrophic implosion”, the US Coast Guard has confirmed, killing all five passengers on board.
The craft, known as Titan, lost contact with its surface vessel, the HMS Polar Prince, on Sunday morning during a diving expedition. An international search effort located debris near the Titanic site on Thursday morning and later identified it as the remains of Titan.
“This is an incredibly unforgiving environment down there on the sea floor and the debris is consistent with a catastrophic implosion of the vessel,” Rear Admiral John Mauger of the US Coast Guard said at a press briefing.
The cause of the implosion is still under investigation, but experts have speculated that it could have been triggered by a sudden change in pressure or a malfunction in the submersible’s systems.
OceanGate, the operator of the craft, confirmed the five people on board were its chief executive Stockton Rush, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood, British businessman Hamish Harding, and Paul-Henri Nargeolet, a French explorer — were all presumed dead.
Titan was one of only three submersibles in the world capable of reaching depths of more than 3,800 meters (12,500 feet), where the Titanic lies. It was operated by OceanGate Expeditions, a US-based company that offers tours to the Titanic site for researchers and tourists.
The company expressed its “deepest condolences” to their families and friends and said it was “cooperating fully” with the authorities.
“These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world’s oceans,” OceanGate Expeditions, the U.S.-based company that operated the Titan submersible, said in a statement. “Our hearts are with these five souls and every member of their families during this tragic time.”
According to Reuters, rescue teams from several countries had spent days searching thousands of square miles of open seas with planes and ships for any sign of the 22-foot (6.7-meter) Titan.
The submersible lost contact with its support ship on Sunday morning about an hour and 45 minutes into what should have been a two-hour descent.
The Titanic sank in 1912 after hitting an iceberg in the North Atlantic, killing more than 1,500 people. The wreck was discovered in 1985 and has since attracted many explorers and enthusiasts who want to see it up close.
This is a tragedy. R.I.P