OceanGate, the company that launched the missing submersible, has released a statement confirming that they believe everyone on board to be dead.
The company’s sub, Titan, went missing an hour and 45 minutes into a journey down to the wreck site of the RMS Titanic on Sunday (18 June), triggering a large scale search and rescue mission led by the US Coast Guard.
Now, the company believes that the five passengers on board are ‘lost’.
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In a statement, OceanGate said: "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."
“These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world’s oceans.
“Our hearts are with these five souls and every member of their families during this tragic time.
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“We grieve the loss of life and joy they brought to everyone they knew.
“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 organizations of the international community who expedited wide-ranging resources and have worked so very hard on this mission."
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“We appreciate their commitment to finding these five explorers, and their days and nights of tireless work in support of our crew and their families.
“This is a very sad time for the entire explorer community, and for each of the family members of those lost at sea.
“We respectfully ask that the privacy of these families be respected during this most painful time."
The US Coast Guard has since made a statement at a press conference to support the assertions of OceanGate, offering its ‘heartfelt condolences’ to the families of those who are believed to have died.
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The submersible was diving to the Titanic when it lost contact with the surface, meaning that those attempting to find and rescue those on board - who were believed to have a 96 hour emergency oxygen supply - had to search a vast area of deep ocean.
The remote nature of the search meant that it was always set to be an uphill battle for the rescuers, but after ‘banging’ noises were heard, the search had focused on a specific area.
However, they later found a debris field which contained some pieces that have now been confirmed as having been from the Titan.
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On the prospect of finding the remains of those on board, US Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger said: “This is an incredibly unforgiving environment down there on the sea floor and the debris is consistent with a catastrophic implosion of the vessel.
“We will continue to work and we will continue to search down there but I don't have an answer for prospects at this time.”
Topics: World News, Titanic
Tom Wood