Five passengers on board the tourist submarine that vanished over the weekend while on an expedition to examine the Titanic shipwreck perished due to a "catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber," according to officials.
The news was made shortly after the U.S. Coast Guard reported that the extensive search operation in the North Atlantic had discovered a field of wreckage on the ocean floor that was positively identified as belonging to the missing submarine.
Rear Admiral John M auger of the Coast Guard said at a briefing that "the debris field is consistent with a catastrophic implosion of the vessel," expressing his "deepest condolences to the families." Reporters were informed by an OceanGate Expeditions spokeswoman that the passengers, including OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, "have sadly been lost."
What just happened?
The five-person Titan team, operated by OceanGate Expeditions, went underwater during a dive to the Titanic debris site on Sunday morning. The Polar Prince research ship's crew lost touch with the sub approximately an hour and a half later, according to the Coast Guard.
Initially, the Coast Guard informed vessels that a "21-foot submarine" with a white hull was late and provided its last known location. The alert message stated, "VESSELS IN VICINITY REQUESTED TO KEEP A SHARP LOOKOUT, ASSIST IF POSSIBLE."
The submarine went down in the North Atlantic, 900 miles east of Cape Cod, in water that was around 13,000 feet deep, or almost the same depth as the Titanic wreck. A united command made up of multiple multinational agencies intensified its search and rescue operations in response to mounting worries over the planet's declining supply of breathable air.
An operator later revealed as Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate Expeditions, and four mission specialists—the moniker the firm uses for its customers who can pay up to $250,000 for a seat—made comprised the five individuals on board.
The sub's whereabouts and that of its passengers were unknown for days. However, after the wreckage was discovered, a U.S. Navy officer claimed the Navy had discovered "an acoustic anomaly consistent with an implosion" shortly after the sub lost communication with the surface on Sunday, CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reported. The Coast Guard received the information and utilized it to focus its search, according to the official.
Who were the People traveling in the submarine?
The five people on board the submersible were confirmed by CBS News to be French explorer Paul-Henri, a 59-year-old billionaire, business owner, and explorer from France; British-Pakistani businessman DA Wood and his son, Suleiman; and Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate Expeditions, who was acting as the pilot.
Thursday afternoon's Coast Guard briefing was preceded by a statement released by OceanGate spokesperson Andrew Van Kearns, in which he expressed sympathy to the Titan crew members' families and acknowledged that all five of the submersible's crew members were likely already dead.
"These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world's oceans," the business said in a statement. "During this terrible moment, our thoughts and prayers are with these five people and every one of their families. We lament their passing and the loss of the happiness they offered to everybody who knew them.
M auger stated that the Coast Guard was in contact with the general consulates of both the United Kingdom and France when they received word of the sub's probable implosion on Thursday.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the DA Wood family of the significant international corporate conglomerate DA Wood Group confirmed that members of their family were participating in the expedition.
The Hussain and DA Wood families requested Thursday that people continue to pray for the souls of the deceased and their families during this trying time of bereavement in a statement released by the DA Wood Foundation. "We sincerely appreciate the efforts of everyone participating in the rescue operations. The overwhelming love and support we receive keep us going through this unfathomable tragedy.
In 1987, the first trip to the Titanic disaster included renowned French explorer and former French Navy diver Nargeolet. He was returning for another dive aboard the Titan submarine.
Rescue efforts and search operations
Authorities said early on Thursday that a remotely operated underwater vehicle had been deployed by the Canadian ship Horizon Arctic and had reached the ocean floor. Authorities verified that afternoon that the ROV eventually discovered what the Coast Guard had identified as a debris field on the ocean floor, which included recognizable bits of the sub.
At a news conference, M auger stated, "This morning, an ROV, or remote-operated vehicle, from the ship Horizon Arctic discovered the tail cone of the Titan submersible on the sea floor approximately 1,600 feet from the bow of the Titanic." "Subsequently, the ROV discovered more debris. The debris is consistent with the catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber, according to consultants from the unified command.
We informed the families right away after making our decision, he continued. I extend my sincere sympathies to the families on behalf of the USCG and the entire unified command. I can only imagine how this has been for them, and I sincerely hope that this finding brings them some comfort during this trying time.
According to M Auger, authorities are "still working to develop the details for the timeline involved with this casualty and the response," and they cited the "incredibly complex operating environment along the sea floor, over two miles beneath the surface."
At the press presentation, U.S. Navy undersea expert Paul stated that the workers had found "five different major pieces of debris that told us that it was the remains of the Titan." These parts originally included the nose cone, which was external to the pressure hull.
Then, Paul recalled, "We discovered a sizable debris field." "We discovered the pressure hull's front end bell within that sizable debris field. That was the first sign of a disastrous disaster for us.
Shortly later, another, smaller debris field was discovered, and the debris there comprised the totality of that pressure vessel," according to Han kin.
After numerous agencies from the U.S. and Canada spent days exploring thousands of square miles of open water in search of the missing sub, the Titan debris was found.
According to a statement released on Wednesday by the U.S. Coast Guard, searches employing RO Vs are concentrating on the area where underwater noises were observed.
The Coast Guard announced in a tweet on Wednesday that three additional vessels had joined the search, including one equipped with side-scan sonar technology that can produce photographs of wide areas of the ocean floor. Along with at least two other vessels, that warship started undertaking search patterns as several military and non-military organizations collaborated under a single leadership.
Five "surface assets" are now working on the search, according to Frederick, and an additional five are anticipated to join the effort within the next 24 to 48 hours. Additionally, the crew had two RO Vs "actively searching," according to him, and more were expected to join the search on Thursday.
The Rescue Coordination Center Halifax was assisting with a P-8 Poseidon aircraft, which has underwater detecting capabilities, according to the Coast Guard, which claimed to have a C-130 aircraft searching for the sub. Sonar buoys were deployed by Canadian P-3s, who were also involved in the operation.
Wednesday, just after midnight, officials reported that planes had discovered underwater noises in the search region. As a result, underwater search activities were moved, albeit the source of the noises was still unknown. The Coast Guard reported that the sounds were heard multiple times between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.
To be quite honest with you, we don't know what the noises are regarding them particularly, added Frederick. "The P-3 detected noises, that's why they're up there, that's why they're doing what they're doing, and that's why there are sonar buoys in the water."
It was Monday morning when word of the missing submersible and accompanying rescue operation first spread. At the time, the rescue effort was being led by Boston-based Coast Guard troops, who were concentrating on the waters outside Newfoundland in eastern Canada, Lt. Jordan Hart of the Coast Guard in Boston told CBS News.
According to a map of jurisdictions along the East Coast of North America, the Titanic shipwreck is located within the Boston Regional Coordination Center's jurisdiction, so it was in charge of directing the rescue effort.
According to Frederick, who emphasized that the search and rescue crews were dealing with extremely challenging circumstances, the combined search area increased to roughly twice the size of the state of Connecticut, and the underground search went as deep as 2.5 miles.
He stated earlier in the week that "we also have to take into account the ever-changing weather conditions, currents, and sea states that expand the search area every hour." The collaboration between numerous organizations and countries, as well as the case's remote offshore location, add to the case's immense complexity. We are very grateful for the support and equipment offers that have been made.
What noises were those?
Frederick recognized that several factors could have contributed to the sounds that Canadian planes picked up underwater.
A U.S. Navy source told CBS News that the implosion would be incongruous with hammering noises observed at 30-minute intervals after the sub-debris was found on the ocean floor. The official explained that those noises have since been determined to have originated from nearby ships.
It can be difficult to distinguish between "human sounds" and "nature sounds" coming from below the surface, according to Carl Hartsfield, a specialist in underwater acoustics and the head of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, which is on-site at the search location as a consultant. "The ocean is a very complex place human sounds, nature sounds, and it's very difficult to discern what the sources of those noises are at times," said Hartsfield.
Chris Roman, an associate professor of oceanography at the University of Rhode Island, told CBS News that, while it was technically feasible that sounds from inside a submersible might have been heard, that wasn't the only source of the noise that could have been heard before the sub was discovered." Underwater sound travels quite effectively. "If people were purposefully making noise inside the submarine, a sound buoy could likely pick them up, and their location can then be used to determine a new search area," Roman added. He did, however, add that, as Frederick had stated in his briefing, "there are a lot of other things in the ocean that make noises."
What might have occurred inside?
The Titan had probably reached the ocean below when it lost contact, according to Butch Hendrick, president, and CEO of Lifeguard Systems, a company that provides dive training for public safety personnel. He made this comment to CBS News on Tuesday. Hendrick hypothesized that the Titan "could have gotten itself entangled somewhere," leading to the "communication antenna" becoming "dislodged" and "broken," which would have resulted in the vessel losing connection.
Hendrick further speculated that the Titan would have "leaked and flooded" more frequently than it would have exploded. He claimed that the pressure was around 5,000 pounds per square inch (PSI) more at the depth of the Titanic's wreckage than it was at sea level.
Hendrick added, "There are no opening a gate, there's no opening a window, there's no making an interactive lock," adding that a leak might, perhaps, affect the electrical system of the submersible.
You must be logged in to post a comment.