The five crew members on board the missing submersible Titan died in a “catastrophic implosion”, the US Coast Guard has confirmed.
Oceangate Expeditions CEO Stockton Rush, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, British billionaire Hamish Harding, and French adventurer Paul-Henri Nargeolet were on board the Titan when it lost communications with a support ship less than two hours into a 4,000m dive to the Titanic shipwreck on Sunday.
A remotely operated vehicle (ROV) located pieces of debris from the Titan on the seabed about 500m from the bow of the Titanic wreck on Thursday morning Rear Admiral John Mauger, the First Coast Guard District commander, told a press briefing.
The debris was analysed and confirmed to belong to the Titan, and family members were informed there had been no survivors.
The bodies of the five deceased crew members may never be found, Admiral Mauger added.
“This is an incredibly unforgiving environment down there on the sea floor and the debris is consistent with a catastrophic implosion of the vessel.
The US Coast Guard said it had found five major pieces of debris. The ROV initially found a nose cone, a component found outside the pressure hull.
It then found a “large debris field” where a part of the pressure hull was still intact.
The robotic search crew then found a second debris field where the other end of the pressure hull was located.
When asked whether survivors could have been found if the search and rescue mission reached the stricken sub earlier, Adm Mauger repeated that the vessel had suffered a “catastrophic implosion”.
Sonar devices deployed during the search mission had not picked up any signs of an explosion, Adm Mauger said.
It was too soon to say whether there would be a criminal investigation into the loss of life, he added. [Independent]
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