5 aboard Titanic tourist submersible feared dead after ‘catastrophic implosion’
The US Coast Guard stated that the missing submersible was destroyed during descent in a ‘catastrophic implosion’, leading to the death of all five abroad.
- Jun 23, 2023,
- Updated Jun 23, 2023, 9:27 AM IST
The US Coast Guard stated that the missing submersible was destroyed during descent in a ‘catastrophic implosion’, leading to the death of all five abroad.
A robotic diving vehicle found a debris field from the submersible Titan on the seabed and also discovered five major fragments of the vessel. However, there was no trace of any human remains so far.
The submersible began its descent at 8:15 am on June 18 and was supposed to resurface after 7 hours. But communication was lost with its mothership within 2 hours of its trip to watch the remains of the Titanic, which is stationed below the surface of the North Atlantic.
OceanGate Expeditions, which operates the mission, issued a statement that there were no survivors among the five men aboard the Titan.
The chances of recovering the human remains from the debris site on the seabed are very dim, said the US Coast Guard, describing the scene to be an “incredibly unforgiving environment”.
Earlier on June 21 Canadian military surveillance stated that it has been able to detect underwater noises, days after a submarine went missing that was carrying five passengers to see the Titanic wrecked underwater.
With this development, there is a slight ray of hope in the rescue operation that has begun on June 19.
According to reports, the teams heard “banging sounds in the area every 30 minutes”. However, no official confirmation has been released regarding the same, yet.
If the submersible named “Titan” is still functioning, then it would only be having oxygen of a day’s worth, and the depth has been estimated to be about 12,500 feet below the surface.