A deep-sea submersible carrying five people on a voyage to the century-old wreck of the Titanic imploded in what appears to have been a “catastrophic implosion” that killed everyone aboard, the U.S. Coast Guard said on Thursday, ending a global five-day search for the vessel. The Titan, operated by OceanGate Expeditions of North Carolina, was last heard from Sunday afternoon. It was supposed to return to the surface at 3 p.m., but a Coast Guard release says the sub lost contact at about 1:45 p.m.
A robotic diving vehicle deployed from a Canadian ship discovered a debris field from the submersible Titan on Thursday morning on the seabed some 1,600 feet (488 meters) from the bow of the Titanic, 2 1/2 miles (4 km) below the surface in the North Atlantic. “This is consistent with the catastrophic implosion of the Titan,” Coast Guard Rear Adm. John Mauger said at a press conference. “We don’t have any indication of a rescue.”
The Titan was the fourth vehicle OceanGate had sent down to explore the Titanic wreck. The company is a private firm with no government links, and it has been working on a business model that relies on the public paying to access the wreck through an uncrewed submarine rather than with a crewed tour boat.
Mauger would not say whether the debris found was the submersible itself or parts of it. He urged those with information to come forward. But he also said the sliver of hope for finding the missing submersible’s crew alive was gone with the discovery of the debris. He cited the submersible’s 96-hour oxygen supply, which was expected to run out on Thursday. Broadcasters worldwide began their newscasts at that critical hour with a clock counting down to when the oxygen would be depleted.
Experts said the five people onboard probably had about 10 to 20 hours before their oxygen ran out. That could have given them a chance to signal for help or use their backup systems. The Titan had a battery that would power its return to the surface for about three hours, and it had sandbags and lead pipes it could drop off the bottom of the capsule to weigh down its hull.
Oceanographers have been analyzing the sounds picked up by sonar buoys used in the search and determined that the “banging” noises were probably not from the Titan submersible but were likely from other sources, such as biological noises or the movements of surface response vessels. They also could have been caused by a buildup of water pressure from an exploding tank.
