Marine officials have discovered a “debris field” in search for the OceanGate submersible that went missing on Sunday en route to surveying the Titanic wreckage in the Atlantic Ocean, carrying five people on board.
On Thursday, as the massive-scale search and rescue mission grew desperate, the vessel reportedly ran out of oxygen with still no way to locate or rescue the passengers onboard. As the worst was assumed by the rest of the world waiting breathlessly for an update, it was reported that the submersible’s landing frame and rear cover were found underwater in what the officials said was a “debris field.”
The hull of the vessel was still missing. The US Coast Guard said that it will hold a press conference at 3 pm EST after evaluating the debris found and gathering more information on the same. Earlier in the day, even as the clock counted down to the last second when the oxygen was said to have theoretically run out, the USCG rejected the notion that the search and rescue mission had turned into a recovery one.
David Mearns, a rescue expert who knows two of the five men onboard, mentioned in his expert opinion what could have happened to the submersible underwater after communications with it went dark.
“They don’t use phrases like ‘debris field’ unless there’s no chance of a recovery of the men alive,” he said. “A debris field implies a break-up of the submersible … that really sort of indicates what is the worst-case scenario, which is a catastrophic failure, and generally that’s an implosion. The only saving grace is that it would have been immediate – literally in milliseconds – and the men wouldn’t have known what was happening.”
He also added that he is just realizing that his two good friends, British billionaire Hamish Harding and the French submersible pilot Paul-Henri Nargeolet, who were among the five passengers onboard the submersible are no more.
He said in an emotional interview that he was praying for a different outcome but his “worst fears have now been realized.” “Two friends of mine are gone,” Mearns said.
Also Read | Fake CNN report claiming OceanGate submersible was ‘found empty’ without Titan Five goes viral
Admiral Sir James Burnell-Nugent, former Commander-in-Chief Fleet of the Royal Navy, told Sky News that “this debris is in some way connected with the Titan”. He explained: “There is of course a large debris field around the Titanic – and the various things we’ve seen retrieved from the Titanic have come from the debris field. It covers several hectares. But I think if this was Titanic debris, the Coast Guard would have made a distinction in the announcement. I think on balance this is probably grim news and suggests the Titan might have imploded under the immense pressure of the seawater while it was on its way down.”
