The sombre statement marked the end of a global search and rescue effort that had the entire globe on edge ever since the small tourist vessel vanished in the North Atlantic four days earlier.
The US Coast Guard reported Thursday that the five personnel onboard a submersible lost near the Titanic disaster died -- most likely in an instant -- when their vehicle experienced what it called a "catastrophic implosion" at the ocean's depths.
The sombre statement marked the end of a global search and rescue effort that had the entire globe on edge ever since the small tourist vessel vanished in the North Atlantic four days earlier.
According to investigation, debris discovered on the seafloor 1,600 feet (500 metres) from the Titanic's bow was consistent with the pressure chamber implosion of the sub, Rear Admiral John Mauger told reporters in Boston.
I extend my sincere sympathies to the families on behalf of the United States Coast Guard and the entire unified command, Mauger added.
British adventurer Hamish Harding, French submarine expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet, Pakistani-British businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, and Stockton Rush, CEO of OceanGate Expeditions, were all present.
'Unforgiving atmosphere'
The front and back ends of the pressure hull as well as the sub's tail cone were among the parts, according to the authorities who later learned this.
The Coast Guard, according to Mauger, is unsure of how or why the ship collapsed and has chosen not to speculate on whether or not the men's remains will be found.
He said, "Down there on the seafloor, this is an extraordinarily cruel environment.
Unmanned robots will continue to operate on the seabed for the time being, Mauger noted, even though the process of demobilising personnel and boats from the scene would soon start.
We'll gather as much data as we can, he promised.
According to a Thursday Wall Street Journal report, the US military initially discovered the craft's potential implosion on covert underwater sound monitoring sensors shortly after it went missing on Sunday.
"The US Navy conducted an analysis of acoustic data and detected an anomaly consistent with an implosion or explosion in the general vicinity of where the Titan submersible was operating when communications were lost," a senior Navy official who wished to remain anonymous told the Journal.
On Sunday, the small submarine Titan vanished as it approached the Titanic, which is located 400 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, and more than two miles (almost four km) below the ocean's surface.
A seat on the sub cost $250,000 through OceanGate Expeditions. Its former director of marine operations expressed concern about Titan's "experimental and untested design" in a 2018 lawsuit.
The Dawoods belonged to one of Pakistan's wealthiest families, while Harding was a wealthy and skilled explorer who held three Guinness Records to his credit. Due to his regular diving at the location, Nargeolet earned the moniker "Mr. Titanic."
All of the men's families received "deepest condolences" from the British and Pakistani governments.
- The Titanic's allure
Seven hours after starting its dive on Sunday morning at 8:00 am, the 21-foot (6.5-meter) Titan was supposed to surface.
But after less than two hours, the vessel lost contact with its mothership.
10,000 square miles (about 20,000 square kilometres) of surface water, nearly the size of the US state of Massachusetts, was searched for the vessel by ships and aircraft from the US and Canadian coast guards as well as a robot deployed from France.
Late on Tuesday and early on Wednesday, underwater thumping noises were heard, and those locations were where the search focused. However, Mauger claimed that in the end, the sounds did not seem to be connected to the location of the debris.
With 2,224 passengers and crew on board, the Titanic sank in 1912 while on its first voyage from England to New York. Over 1,500 people passed away.
It was discovered in 1985 and continues to be a draw for scuba divers and nautical specialists.
At that depth, there are 400 times more atmospheres of pressure than there are at sea level.
David Mearns, a marine scientist and oceanographer who specialises in deep water search and recovery operations, stated earlier that the debris discovery suggested that the submersible broke apart quickly.
According to Mearns, who was friends with two of those on board, "the only saving grace about that is that it would have been immediate, literally in milliseconds, and the men would have had no idea what was happening."
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