OceanGate released a bleak statement on Thursday after the US Coast Guard said that a “debris field” has been discovered by an underwater robot searching near the wreck of the Titanic for a missing submersible with five people on board. It said that the passengers have “sadly been lost”.
US Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger said that he can’t confirm whether the US Coast Guard will be able to recover the bodies of the five passengers, who were the company’s CEO Stockton Rush, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood, Hamish Harding, and Paul-Henri Nargeolet.
According to the officials, five major pieces were detected amid the debris around the Titanic site. A nose cone, outside the pressure hull, and a larger debris field were among them.
“This is an incredibly unforgiving environment,” Mauger added, further mentioning that a few hours ago, an ROV from the vessel Horizon Artic found the tail cone of the Titan submersible approximately 1600ft from the bow of the Titanic wreck.
The families of those on board were notified when they found additional debris, which according to the report was consistent with a catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber.
Mauger stated that the US Coast Guard will keep working near the site to gather more information. He added that it’s an “incredibly complex environment” on the sea floor, two miles beneath the surface.
While weighing in on the possible timing of the explosion, Mauger told reporters that it was too early to tell what the timing of the implosion was. He added that since the search and rescue mission started, the US Coat Guard used sonar buoys out in the water for 72 hours and since they had been in place, they had not detected “any catastrophic events”.
“Our hearts are with these five souls and every member of their families during this tragic time. We grieve the loss of life and joy they brought to everyone they knew.”
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It further added that this is an “extremely sad time for our dedicated employees who are exhausted and grieving deeply over this loss”.
“The entire OceanGate family is deeply grateful for the countless men and women from multiple organisations of the international community who expedited wide-ranging resources and have worked so very hard on this mission,” it added.
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