2 p.m. Thursday
All five people on board are believed to be dead, the company that owns the submersible said in a statement on Thursday.
OceanGate Expeditions 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.”
The U.S. Coast Guard said in a 2 p.m. CT briefing that all five were presumed dead.
Rear Admiral John Mauger of the U.S. Coast Guard said debris found Thursday was “consistent with catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber” in the submersible.
Mauger said banging sounds, reported earlier from the search site, were not related to the craft.
“There doesn’t appear to be any connection between the noises and the location on the sea floor,” he said.
Mauger said recovery of bodies would be a daunting task.
“This is an incredibly unforgiving environment down there on the sea floor,” he said in a live broadcast monitored by The Dallas Express.
The Navy said it continues to explore the debris.
The sub’s tail cone was found about 1,500 feet from the wreckage of the Titanic, the Navy said in the briefing.
Navy salvage expert Paul Hankins said “five major pieces of debris” were found. They included a nose cone and the front and end of the pressure hull. Those pieces indicated a “catastrophic event” occurred, he said.
12:15 p.m. Thursday
The United States Coast Guard reported finding a field of debris during its search for a missing submersible vehicle.
The U.S. Coast Guard is working as part of a joint operation to locate a 21-foot submersible vessel known as the Titan that went missing on June 18 while on a mission to explore the wreckage of the Titanic. The vessel lost contact with the mother ship, Polar Prince, less than two hours after it was deployed.
Officials are continuing efforts to rescue the five occupants trapped inside.
Canadian and U.S. Coast Guard personnel are working together on the search-and-rescue mission, using equipment and assets contributed by other government agencies and departments.
The U.S. Coast Guard announced on June 22 at 10:48 a.m. that one of the remotely operated vehicles used in the search had discovered a debris field within the search area. Officials did not say whether the debris is from the Titan submersible, and officials are still evaluating data.
The Coast Guard will hold a press briefing at 2 p.m. CDT to discuss its findings.