Five crew onboard missing Titanic sub are dead after ‘catastrophic implosion’ – amid fears bodies may never be found
THE five crew onboard the missing Titanic sub are dead, OceanGate has confirmed.
“True explorers” Stockton Rush, Brit billionaire Hamish Harding, Paul-Henri Nargeolet, Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman have all passed away after the sub suffered a “catastrophic implosion”.
The five crew were dubbed “true explorers” with a “distinct spirit of adventure” in a statement by the sub’s owner OceanGate.
The statement released this afternoon read: “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. We grieve the loss of life and joy they brought to everyone they knew.”
John Mauger, Rear Admiral of the US Coast Guard, who is leading the search for the Titan said the investigation was still ongoing.
He said: “The debris field is consistent with catastrophic implosion.
“We have nine vessels on the scene right now.
“We will begin to demobilise the search vessel of the course over the next 24 hours.
“But we will continue remote operations on the sea floor.”
Rescue experts claimed the debris of the Titan sub was found more than 650ft from the bow of the Titanic wreck.
Carl Hartsville, from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, told reporters it was found in an area where there was “no debris” of the Titanic.
He described it as an area with a “smooth bottom”.
Carl said: “It’s consistent with the location of the last communication for an implosion in the water column.”
Foreign secretary James Cleverly has paid tribute to the five people who were on board Titan.
He described it as “tragic news” and said the government was closely supporting the families affected.
It comes after the US coastguard discovered debris belonging to the vessel.
David Mearns – a pal of two of the Titan passengers – believes the debris held vital clues about what happened to the sub.
He told Sky News: “It was a landing frame and a rear cover from the submersible.
“It means the hull hasn’t yet been found but two very important parts of the whole system have been discovered and that would not be found unless it was fragmented.
“Again this is an unconventional submarine, that rear cover is the pointy end of it and the landing frame is the little frame that it seems to sit on.”
Mearns also pointed to the fishtail fairing of the sub.
He added: “If the faring is off and the frame is off – then something really bad has happened to the entire structure.
“On the news that we have yet, they haven’t found the hull of which the men are inside.”
The OceanGate sub vanished with five people on board less than two hours into its descent to the Titanic wreckage on Sunday and has not been seen since.
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