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he company that owns the missing Titanic submarine has confirmed all five men on board are dead after debris was found 1,600ft from the famous wreck.
OceanGate Expeditions said its pilot and chief executive Stockton Rush – along with UK citizens Hamish Harding, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood and French national Paul-Henri Nargeolet “have sadly been lost.”
The US Coast Guard offered its “deepest condolences” to the families after the tail cone of the submersible was found around 1,600ft from the bow of the Titanic wreckage.
Rear Admiral John Mauger
/ REUTERSIn a press conference, Rear Admiral John Mauger said further debris was “consistent with a catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber”.
He said: “This morning, an ROV, or remote operated vehicle from the vessel Horizon Arctic discovered the tail cone of the Titan submersible approximately 1,600ft from the bow of the Titanic on the sea floor.
“The ROV subsequently found additional debris. In consultation with experts from within the unified command, the debris is consistent with the catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber.
“Upon this determination, we immediately notified the families.
“On behalf of the United States Coast Guard and the entire unified command, I offer my deepest condolences to the families. I can only imagine what this has been like for them.
“And I hope that this discovery provides some solace during this difficult time.”
The OceanGate Expeditions submersible vessel named Titan (American Photo Archive/Alamy/PA)
/ PA MediaAsked about the prospects of recovering the bodies of those killed on the Titan expedition, the rear admiral 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.
“And so we’ll continue to work and continue to search the area down there, but I don’t have an answer for prospects at this time.”
In a statement, OceanGate Expeditions said: “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 organisations of the international community who expedited wide-ranging resources and have worked so very hard on this mission.
“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 dead men include British businessman and explorer Hamish Harding and fellow businessman Shahzada Dawood and his teenage son Suleman Dawood.
Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman
/ DAWOOD HERCULES CORPORATION/AFPThe press conference heard that five major pieces of debris allowed search teams to identify the remains of the craft.
A Coast Guard spokesman also said the position of the debris made it unlikely it had collided with the remains of the Titanic.
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