OceanGate Titanic sub search: Coast Guard confirms 'debris field' is missing tourist sub

The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre and the Canadian Armed Forces released a statement on Twitter offering their "sincere condolences to the family and friends of the crew of the Titan for their tragic loss."

After a weeklong search, the OceanGate's Titan was found to have imploded, killing its five passengers.

"A truly unfortunate outcome concluding great efforts and cooperation between countries, militaries and partners," the joint statement read. "As this operation is transitioning to recovery and salvage, MRCC Boston no longer requires rescue services."

JRCC and the Canadian military contributed to the massive, international search for the OceanGate vessel.

"All JRCC rescue assets will return to base to regenerate search and rescue capability and prepare for future search and rescue events," they continued. 

An effort to potential recover and salvage the wreckage of the Titan "is currently being discussed," they said.

OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, one of five passengers killed on a fatal mission to the Titanic wreckage this week, once admitted on camera to "breaking some rules" to build the tourist submersible.  

In comments to Mexican travel vlogger Alan Estrada in 2021, Rush evoked General MacArthur saying, "You’re remembered for the rules you break." 

"I’ve broken some rules to make this. I think I’ve broken them with logic and good engineering behind me," Rush said. 

The U.S. Coast Guard confirmed Thursday that a debris field found approximately 1,600 feet from the Titanic wreckage was from a submersible’s catastrophic implosion that killed all five men aboard. 

The discovery effectively concluded a search for the missing Titan submersible that lost contact with its surface ship roughly an hour and 45 minutes after descending to the Titanic.

The loss of contact with the submersible sparked an international rescue operation as authorities scrambled to locate the vessel before air supply levels were expected to run out early Thursday. Read about some of the key vessels and equipment that were involved in search efforts.

The U.S. Navy detected what it suspected may have been an implosion within hours of the Titan submersible descending into the ocean to visit the Titanic wreckage. 

A U.S. defense official said the Navy began listening for the Titan immediately after the vessel lost communication with the mother ship, approximately an hour and 45 minutes into its mission Sunday morning.

The official said the Navy’s top secret acoustic detection system picked sounds that were consistent with either an explosion or an implosion near where the Titan was found on Thursday. 

The search for Titan, the missing OceanGate submersible, came to a tragic end on Thursday when search-and-rescue teams discovered a "debris field" on the ocean floor near the wreck of the Titanic, where the crew was headed before losing contact with their surface vessel Sunday morning, as Fox News Digital reported earlier this afternoon.

"The debris is consistent with the catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber. Upon this determination, we immediately notified the families," U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger told reporters. 

"On behalf of the United States Coast Guard and the entire unified command, I offer my deepest condolences to the families."

Faith leaders reacted to the difficult and sad news.

The search for a missing tourist submersible carrying five men came to a tragic end Thursday after rescue officials discovered debris from the imploded vessel near the wreckage of the Titanic. 

Reactions poured in on social media shortly after the U.S. Coast Guard confirmed the debris field officials had found was the Titan submersible they had been searching for since Sunday. 

"Titanic" director James Cameron is speaking out after the search for the missing OceanGate Titan submersible came to a tragic end Thursday.

Cameron, 68, found the tragic story of the sub eerily similar to what happened to the infamous ship in 1912.

"Well, I've been down there many times," Cameron told ABC News on Thursday. "I've made 33 dives and I've actually calculated that I've spent more time on the ship than the captain did back in the day."

Josh Gates, a veteran explorer who previously raised concerns about the OceanGate sub before it was discovered imploded Thursday, called the catastrophe "an absolutely heartbreaking conclusion to the mission."

"Condolences to the families of PH Nargeolet, Hamish Harding, Shahzada Dawood, Suleman Dawood, & Stockton Rush."

The search for the missing Titanic tourist submersible took a tragic turn Thursday when the U.S. Coast Guard said a debris field found at the bottom of the ocean near the Titanic and the critical 96-hour mark passed when the vessel's oxygen supply was expected to run out.

The Coast Guard confirmed Thursday that the missing submersible imploded near the wreckage of the Titanic, killing all five passengers on board.

The U.S. Coast Guard confirmed Thursday that a debris field is the missing Titanic tourist submersible that was carrying five passengers. All five on board are presumed dead.

Rear Admiral John Mauger, First Coast Guard District commander, said a remote operate vehicle from the Vessel Horizon Arctic discovered the tail cone of the Titan submersible approximately 1600 feet from the bow of the Titanic.

"The debris is consistent with the catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber. Upon this determination, we immediately notified the families on behalf of the United States Coast Guard and the entire unified command," Mauger said.

OceanGate Expeditions, the company behind the missing Titanic tourist submersible confirmed Thursday afternoon that the passengers on board are believed to have "sadly been lost."

"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."

"This is an extremely sad time for our dedicated employees who are exhausted and grieving deeply over this loss. The entire OceanGate family is deeply grateful for the countless men and women from multiple organizations of the international community who expedited wide-ranging resources and have worked so very hard on this mission. We appreciate their commitment to finding these five explorers, and their days and nights of tireless work in support of our crew and their families."

"This is a very sad time for the entire explorer community, and for each of the family members of those lost at sea. We respectfully ask that the privacy of these families be respected during this most painful time."

The statement came after the U.S. Coast Guard confirmed Thursday that a "debris field" has been found in the search for the missing submersible.

The Explorers Club told its members Thursday that a “debris field” found during a search of the missing Titanic tourist submersible “may be the landing frame and a rear cover of the tail instrument compartment” of the vessel lost on previous dives.

“We hear there may be additional debris, but no updated visuals of the submersible,” Richard Garriott wrote in an email to Explorers Club members. “We will all be watching the Coast Guard press conference for official news of the rescue. We are not the source for search and rescue. Any official updates should come from the Coast Guard.”

The U.S. Coast Guard was expected to give a 3 p.m. press conference to provide an update on the search for the missing submersible.

The Explorers Club is an international society of adventurers that included Hamish Harding, a U.K. aviator and millionaire who was one of five passengers on board the submersible that went missing Sunday.

A former OceanGate Expeditions customer who took a trip to see the Titanic wreckage two years ago described the dive as a "kamikaze operation."

An international search and rescue operation is ongoing for five crew members on OceanGate's Titan sub, which went missing Sunday on a planned deep sea tourist expedition. Arthur Loibl, a retired German businessman and adventurer who went on the same trip in 2021, shared his experience with OceanGate in an interview with The Associated Press.

"You have to be a little bit crazy to do this sort of thing," Loibl said. 

He explained that the idea of touring the Titanic wreckage came to him on a trip to the South Pole in 2016. At the time, a Russian company was the only service offering videos for half a million dollars.

Washington state-based OceanGate announced its own Titanic operation a year later and Loibl seized the opportunity. He chartered a dive with OceanGate in 2019, paying a whopping $110,000, but that dive was canceled because the first submersible didn't survive testing.

In 2021 he went on a voyage that was successful along with OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush and French diver and Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet — who are now missing — along with two men from England.

"Imagine a metal tube a few meters long with a sheet of metal for a floor. You can’t stand. You can’t kneel. Everyone is sitting close to or on top of each other," Loibl told the AP. "You can’t be claustrophobic."

OceanGate's sub experienced technical difficulties on the dive, Loibl said. He described how lights were turned off to conserve energy during the 2.5-hour descent and ascent, with the only illumination coming from a glow stick.  

The dive was repeatedly delayed to fix a problem with the battery and the balancing weights. In total, the voyage took 10.5 hours.

Around noon E.T., the Coast Guard announced that "A debris field was discovered within the search area by an ROV near the Titanic" and "Experts within the unified command are evaluating the information."

The Coast Guard is holding a press conference to reveal more about the discovery at 3 p.m. ET.

The five passengers on board the missing submarine have been identified as OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, French mariner Paul-Henry Nargeolet, British businessman and explorer Hamish Harding, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, and Dawood's son Sulaiman Dawood. 

"Rush oversees OceanGate’s financial and engineering strategies and provides a clear vision for development of 4,000 meter (13,123 feet) and 6,000 meter (19,685 feet) capable crewed submersibles and their partner launch and recovery platforms which make OceanGate Inc the leading provider of crewed submersibles for charter and scientific research," OceanGate’s website says. 

The submarine began its journey to the Titanic on Sunday morning with 96 hours of oxygen on board, according to OceanGate’s website. 

Operators then lost contact with the vessel about 1 hour and 45 minutes into its descent. 

On Tuesday, around 1 p.m. ET, the U.S. Coast Guard estimated that there were about 40 to 41 hours of "breathable air" still available inside the vessel.  

By the Coast Guard’s estimate, that means oxygen would have run out inside the Titan sometime Thursday morning.

The Coast Guard has scheduled a press conference for 3 p.m. ET in Boston, Massachusetts following the announcement that an underwater "debris field" has been found in the search for OceanGate's missing Titan submarine, which vanished Sunday with five people onboard.

"The Coast Guard is scheduled to hold a press briefing to discuss findings from the Horizon Arctic’s remotely operated vehicle near the Titanic," it said in a press release.

Around five hours ago, the Coast Guard said the Horizon Arctic's ROV "reached the sea floor and began its search for the missing sub."

The Titan submarine vanished Sunday morning with five people onboard: OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, French mariner Paul-Henry Nargeolet, British businessman and explorer Hamish Harding, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Sulaiman Dawood. 

The Titan lost contact with its surface vessel, the Polar Prince, around 1 hour and 45 minutes into its dive Sunday morning, about 900 miles east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and around 400 miles southeast of St John's, in Canada's Newfoundland.

The U.S. Coast Guard is heading a unified command that involved commercial assets, research vehicles and military counterparts from Canada, France and the United Kingdom.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, Canadian pilots picked up repeated sounds during their search.

Fox News' Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.

The Coast Guard has announced Thursday that a "debris field was discovered within the search area by an ROV near the Titanic. 

"Experts within the unified command are evaluating the information," it added.

Underwater remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) were deployed Thursday morning to search the Atlantic Ocean floor for OceanGate's Titan submarine, which vanished Sunday morning with five passengers onboard.

The Coast Guard earlier said the "Canadian vessel Horizon Arctic has deployed an ROV that has reached the sea floor and began its search for the missing sub."

The French vessel L'Atalante also deployed their ROV, it added.

The Titan submarine vanished Sunday morning with five people onboard: OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, French mariner Paul-Henry Nargeolet, British businessman and explorer Hamish Harding, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Sulaiman Dawood. 

The oxygen inside the Titan was estimated by the Coast Guard to run out on Thursday morning. 

BOSTON – As an international search-and-rescue mission to find the missing OceanGate Titan sub took place this week involving militaries and commercial assets, authorities and subject matter experts have repeatedly referred to remotely operated vehicles (ROVs).

"The acronym Remotely Operated Vehicle, the original use is underwater robot that is completely operated by a human operator," explained Dr. Brendan Englot, an expert on undersea robotics at the Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey. "The analogy might be like the kind of person who operates a piece of construction equipment or a shipping crane – a very high-stakes, high-precision remote operation task, [and] highly trained operator."

Advanced ROVs are "kind of like a drone," he said, except they are controlled manually.

Experts say that ROVs are the best bet to attempt a rescue of the OceanGate Titan submersible, which vanished Sunday during a dive toward the Titanic shipwreck in the Atlantic Ocean, about 900 miles east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

On board are OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush; British businessman turned adventurer Hamish Harding, father-and-son Shahzada and Suleman Dawood, who are members of one of Pakistan’s wealthiest families; and Paul-Henry Nargeolet, a former French navy officer and leading Titanic expert.

Capt. David Marquet, a former U.S. Navy submarine commander, told Fox News’ ‘America’s Newsroom’ Thursday that it is “devastating news” that a Navy deep-sea recovery crane system hasn’t been deployed yet in the search for the missing OceanGate Titan sub. 

Marquet spoke after Fox News’ Mike Tobin, reporting from St. John’s, Newfoundland – where the search effort is based out of – said the Navy FADOSS system has arrived in the Canadian maritime province but the latest information he received is that a ship hasn’t been selected yet to mount it. 

Attaching that Navy crane to a ship takes 24 hours, according to Tobin. 

“The Navy has a system called FADOSS – it stands for Flyaway Deep Ocean Salvage System -- and it’s designed to be flown there,” Marquet said. “The airplanes that arrived [in Newfoundland] a couple days ago I had thought that it was already on a ship on its way out there. 

“That is the system – it's a big cable on a spool, it would go down and that would be able to pull the submarine up pretty rapidly, maybe half an hour, maybe an hour once it’s found,” Marquet continued. “In the absence of this system, we need a really heavy duty [remotely operated vehicle] ROV which may be able to grapple onto the mini sub and then sort of piggyback it up to the surface.” 

The search for the missing OceanGate Titan submarine is in the middle of its fifth day.

The five passengers on board the missing submarine have been identified as OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, French mariner Paul-Henry Nargeolet, British businessman and explorer Hamish Harding, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, and Dawood's son Sulaiman Dawood. 

The submarine began its journey to the Titanic on Sunday morning with 96 hours of oxygen on board, according to OceanGate’s website. 

Operators then lost contact with the vessel about 1 hour and 45 minutes into its descent. 

It has not been heard from since and its current whereabouts remain unknown.

For the first time Thursday, the search is including underwater robots that are combing the floor of the Atlantic Ocean for Titan.

The U.S. Coast Guard tweeted this morning that the Canadian vessel Horizon Arctic has deployed a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) "that has reached the sea floor and began its search for the missing sub." 

"The French vessel L'Atalante has just deployed their ROV," the Coast Guard added around 8 a.m. ET.

It described weather conditions at the search site as having winds at 14 mph with gusts of up to 19 mph. 

"Sea state is 4-5ft swells with an air temp of 50°f," the Coast Guard also says.

A co-founder of OceanGate Expeditions spoke out and gave reason to hope the five-man crew of the missing Titan submersible can still be rescued, including CEO Stockton Rush. 

Guillermo Söhnlein founded OceanGate with Rush in 2009 to offer pricey deep-sea tours to the extremely wealthy in manned submersibles capable of diving up to 13,123 feet. Söhnlein left the company in 2013, turning it over to Rush and reducing his role to a minority shareholder, but the two have kept in touch and last spoke a couple of weeks before the ill-fated Titanic expedition. 

In a statement posted on Facebook, Söhnlein broke his silence about the missing crew and encouraged the public and the media to remain hopeful for the crew's rescue and avoid speculation about what happened.

"For the past three days, I have watched from afar as hundreds of dedicated professionals worked tirelessly to find and rescue the crew of the research submersible, Titan, with which communication was lost during its science expedition to the wreck of the Titanic. The pilot is my co-founder and friend, Stockton Rush," Söhnlein wrote.

"Today will be a critical day in this search and rescue mission, as the sub's life support supplies are starting to run low. 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," he said.

Rear Admiral John Mauger told NBC's 'Today' Show Thursday morning that the unified command in charge of the search for the missing OceanGate Titan submarine "made some decisions to prioritize" which equipment could be used "based on gear that was closest to the site."

His comments come after Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) tweeted earlier this morning that "I am still hearing reports that the US Government unnecessarily delayed the deployment of proper search & recovery equipment from reaching the Titanic, and now time is running out."

Richard Garriott, the president of the Explorers Club, also tweeted earlier this week that the Magellan underwater remotely operated vehicle (ROV) "is en route (should have been accepted sooner)."

"We have been really overwhelmed by all of the support that has been provided by the international community with regard to this complex search and rescue effort," Mauger said Thursday when asked about the criticism. "And so when we notified of the missing submersible and brought together the unified command without a pre-planned response plan, without pre-staged gear, we really had to start from scratch and bring all of the capability that was available to bear on this problem. And so we made some decisions to prioritize based on gear that was closest to the site and could get there."

"And so now right now we have the ROVs operating on the bottom floor that have the ability to search and have the ability to attach rescue lines. We have medical personnel moving into the site as well with deep sea medical expertise and a hyperbaric chamber as well so we are going to continue with the search and rescue efforts," he added.