Coast Guard officials spoke at a press conference of “complicated circumstances” during the search for the submarine, which went missing Sunday during a voyage to explore the wreck of the “Titanic”.
The Coast Guard offered its condolences to the families of the five people on board, and added that work is underway to gather details to find out the circumstances of the submarine’s sinking.
And the American news network, “CNN”, revealed that the debris that was found near the wreck of the “Titanic” ship was assessed as being from the outer body of the missing “Titan” submarine.
CNN quoted the company operating the submarine, “Titan”, as saying: “We believe that we have lost the crew of the missing submarine,” and its condolences to their families.
The network’s report came shortly after the US Coast Guard announced that a robotic deep-diving vehicle had discovered a “debris field” while searching for the missing submarine on the ocean floor.
The Coast Guard added on Twitter that experts were reviewing the information collected by the vehicle, without going into further details.
The desperate search for the 6.7-meter-long submersible “Titan” reached a critical juncture on Thursday morning, as the oxygen stock available to the five people on board is estimated to be depleted, or may have already been depleted.
Operated by US-based Oceangate, the Titan began a two-hour flight Sunday morning, but lost contact with the support vehicle on the surface.
The submarine started its journey with enough oxygen for 96 hours, according to the company, which means that the oxygen is likely to have run out on Thursday morning, assuming that the submarine is still intact.
Experts say the exact timing of oxygen depletion depends on factors, including whether the submarine has electricity and how quiet those on board are.
On Thursday, a robot belonging to a French research ship sank to the ocean floor, looking for any trace of the submarine.
Even if the submarine is located before it runs out of oxygen, bringing it back will be a huge logistical challenge given the harsh conditions two miles below the surface.
The wreckage of the “Titanic”, which hit an iceberg and sank on its first voyage in 1912, killing more than 1,500 people, lies approximately 1,450 km east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and 644 km south of St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada.
Among the passengers of the submarine, who embarked on a $ 250,000 tourist expedition per person, are British billionaire Himesh Harding (58 years), businessman of Pakistani origin Shahzadeh Dawood (48 years), and his son Suleiman (19 years), and the two are British citizens. .
French explorer and oceanographer Paul-Heninard Jollet, 77, and Oceangate founder and CEO Rush Stockton were also said to be on board.
#Missing #submarine #wreckage