The pilot and four passengers of a missing submersible that disappeared en route to the wreckage of the Titanic are believed to be dead, the expedition company said on Thursday, June 22, 2023.
Sub operator, OceanGate says all five people onboard the missing submersible near the wreck of the Titanic have been lost.
OceanGate Expeditions founder and CEO, Stockton Rush, British billionaire Hamish Harding, renowned French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman were on board.
The watercraft submerged on Sunday morning to travel to the Titanic wreckage. It lost contact with its surface ship about 105 minutes later.
“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 company said in a statement on Thursday.
The confirmation comes a few hours after a “debris field” was discovered by an underwater robot searching near the wreck of the Titanic for the missing submersible.
The development came after rescuers insisted that the multinational mission to locate the craft was still focused on finding the crew alive despite fears that the vessel’s oxygen may have run out.
“Experts within the unified command are evaluating the information,” the US Coast Guard said in a tweet.
The coast guard said the debris field was found “within the search area by an ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) near the Titanic.”
It did not give more details but said it would hold a press briefing in Boston later on Thursday.
Chris Brown, a friend of a passenger on board the missing tourist submersible which was diving to the wreck of the Titanic, said he canceled his own trip due to concerns over the vessel’s safety and design
