DM Monitoring
WASHINGTON: The five people aboard a missing submersible are thought to be dead, according to the company that owns the vessel, bringing a grim end on Thursday to the massive search for the vessel that was lost during a voyage to the Titanic.
Later, the US Coast Guard offered its “deepest condolences” to the bereaved families during a press briefing.
The submersible, owned by OceanGate Expeditions, lost contact on Sunday morning with its support ship about an hour and 45 minutes into what should have been a two-hour descent.
The minivan-sized Titan was carrying British billionaire Hamish Harding and Pakistani tycoon Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, who also have British citizenship. Also on board were Ocean Gate CEO Stockton Rush and deep sea explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet.
“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 said in a statement. “Our hearts are with these five souls and every member of their families during this tragic time.”
The statement from OceanGate came just minutes after CNN said that debris found on the ocean floor on Thursday near the wreck of the Titanic was assessed to be from the submersible, citing an internal US Coast Guard document.
An unmanned deep-sea robot deployed from a Canadian ship discovered a “debris field” near where the century-old wreck is located, two and a half miles below the surface, the US Coast Guuard said earlier on Twitter.
