Missing Titanic submersible updates: Passengers and pilot presumed dead

A submersible carrying five people to visit the site of the Titanic wreckage went missing on Sunday.

Here are the latest updates:

Passengers presumed dead, OceanGate announces

Thursday, June 22

The five people who were in the missing submersible — four passengers and the pilot — are believed to be dead, OceanGate Expeditions stated Thursday.

“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,” OceanGate said in a statement, per CNN.

“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.”

The U.S. Coast Guard also announced that they found debris from the Titan that is consistent with an implosion.

Rear Adm. John Mauger of the Coast Guard in a press conference said that the debris found on the ocean floor “is consistent with the catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber,” CNN reported.

Debris field found

Thursday, June 22

The U.S. Coast Guard announced Thursday that a debris field near the Titanic wreckage site was found on the ocean floor.

“A debris field was discovered within the search area by an ROV near the Titanic. Experts within the unified command are evaluating the information,” the Coast Guard stated in a tweet.

The Coast Guard did not confirm whether or not the debris was from the missing submersible.

Oxygen is estimated to run out

Thursday, June 22

The estimated amount of oxygen in the missing submersible is expected to have ran out Thursday morning.

When the submersible began its expedition to visit the Titanic wreckage site Sunday, it had an estimated four-day supply of oxygen, giving the search and rescue mission a 96-hour time window, The Associated Press reported.

However, the co-founder of OceanGate Expeditions, the company that owns the missing submersible, said he believes the oxygen supply may last longer than people have estimated, according to The Washington Post.

Guillermo Söhnlein stated, “I’m certain that Stockton and the rest of the crew realized days ago that the best thing they can do to ensure their rescue is to extend the limits of those supplies by relaxing as much as possible.”

“I firmly believe that the time window available for their rescue is longer than what most people think.”

Though many experts believe that time has run out for the search and rescue teams, search operations were still underway as of Thursday, the Coast Guard stated on Twitter.

Underwater noises were detected by rescuers

Wednesday, June 21

Rescuers have redirected their search for the missing submersible after a Canadian aircraft detected “underwater noises,” the U.S. Coast Guard announced Tuesday in a statement on Twitter.

“Canadian P-3 aircraft detected underwater noises in the search area. As a result, ROV operations were relocated in an attempt to explore the origin of the noises. Those ROV searches have yielded negative results but continue,” the statement reads.

Meanwhile, OceanGate Expeditions, the company that owns the submersible, has come under fire for alleged safety risks.

“Experts inside and outside the company warned of potential dangers and urged the company to undergo a certification process,” The New York Times reported.

However, Stockton Rush, the company’s chief executive who was the pilot of the missing submersible, allegedly refused to have the vessel inspected and certified, per the Times.

The names of the passengers were identified

Tuesday, June 20

The search for a missing submersible that was carrying five people to visit the wreckage site of the Titanic continued Tuesday as several passengers were identified.

The search is “a race against time,” according to The Associated Press. The sub has a 96-hour oxygen supply and has been out at sea since around 6 a.m. Sunday.

There has been no sign of the missing submersible so far.

Hamish Harding, a British billionaire explorer, was among the passengers on the expedition, AP confirmed. Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman were also onboard.

Another passenger was identified as French Titanic expert Paul-Henry Nargeolet, according to CNN.

Reports of the missing submersible sparked a search and rescue mission

Monday, June 19

The U.S. Coast Guard announced that a search was underway Monday for a tourist submersible that disappeared in the area of the Titanic wreck site.

The missing submersible is owned by OceanGate Expeditions, a company that takes tourists to see the wreck of the Titanic in the Atlantic Ocean, The Associated Press reported.

The submersible was scheduled to return Sunday after visiting the wreckage site about 300 miles off of the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, NBC News reported.

The U.S. Coast Guard confirmed Monday that the missing submersible was carrying 5 people when it launched from the Canadian vessel Polar Prince Sunday.

“The 5 person crew submerged Sunday morning, and the crew of the Polar Prince lost contact with them approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes into the vessel’s dive,” the Coast Guard tweeted.

OceanGate Expeditions stated that it was working with several government agencies, including the Canadian Coast Guard, to aid in the search and rescue.

“Our entire focus is on the crewmembers in the submersible and their families,” the company told BBC News. “We are deeply thankful for the extensive assistance we have received from several government agencies and deep sea companies in our efforts to re-establish contact with the submersible.”