OceanGate Expeditions has released a statement four days after the Titanic submersible began its first dive.
As several news reports have detailed over the last several days, on Sunday morning the submersible began its initial descent toward the where the Titanic wrecked. Aboard the deep-sea submersible were five people, who craved adventures.
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Text messages from one of the passengers, identified as British billionaire Hamish Harding, revealed that he was aware of the dangers and risks of what he was about to do. “Hey, we’re headed out tomorrow, it looks good, the weather’s been bad so they’ve been waiting for this,” the 58-year-old billionaire wrote to his friend, retired NASA astronaut Colonel Terry Virts.
Sadly, about 1 hour and 45 minutes into the first dive, the submersible lost contact with its support ship and it’s been missing ever since. Due to how small the submersible is there was only about 96 hours worth of oxygen inside.
It’s believed the oxygen inside the sub ran out early this morning. Now, OceanGate believe everyone inside has since perished.
“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.
“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.”
According to the Coast Guard, they believe the Titan, the name given to the submersible, “exploded on descent and debris fell to the seabed near the wreckage of the Titanic.”
Suleman Dawood was the youngest onboard. He was just 19 years old.
This statement comes after it was reported that the rescue mission had discovered “debris field” during the search. According to CNN, the debris field has since been “assessed to be the external body of the submersible.”
It was located on the ocean floor, about 500 meters away from the bow of the Titanic. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the lives lost.
