London - The U.S. Coast Guard announced on Thursday that Titan, the deep-sea submersible, carrying five individuals on a voyage to explore the century-old wreck of the Titanic, was found in pieces due to a "catastrophic implosion," resulting in the loss of all lives on board.

After a multinational five-day search for the vessel, a debris field from the submersible, named Titan, was discovered by a robotic diving vehicle deployed from a Canadian ship. The debris field was found on the seabed approximately 1,600 feet (488 meters) from the bow of the Titanic, resting 2 1/2 miles (4 km) beneath the surface in a remote area of the North Atlantic.

Rear Admiral John Mauger of the U.S. Coast Guard confirmed the findings to reporters.

The Titan, operated by OceanGate Expeditions, a U.S.-based company, had been missing since losing contact with its surface support ship on Sunday morning. Coast Guard officials revealed that five significant fragments of the 22-foot (6.7-meter) Titan were discovered in the debris field, including the vessel's tail cone and two sections of the pressure hull.

The presence of human remains was not explicitly mentioned during the announcement.

Mauger stated, "The debris field here is consistent with a catastrophic implosion of the vehicle." Prior to the Coast Guard's press conference, OceanGate released a statement confirming the absence of survivors among the five individuals aboard the Titan.

This tragic loss included Stockton Rush, the founder and CEO of OceanGate, who was piloting the submersible. The other victims were identified as British billionaire and explorer Hamish Harding (58), Pakistani-born businessman Shahzada Dawood (48), his 19-year-old son Suleman (both British citizens), and French oceanographer and renowned Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet (77), who had made numerous visits to the wreck in the past.

OceanGate expressed their condolences, stating, "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."

Over the course of several days, search teams and support personnel from the United States, Canada, France, and Britain diligently scanned thousands of square miles of open seas using planes and ships in the search effort. The intense global media coverage of this search overshadowed the aftermath of a more significant maritime disaster involving a migrant vessel off the coast of Greece, which claimed the lives of hundreds of people last week.

Acoustic Findings
Mauger, it was too early to determine when the submersible Titan met its fate. Despite having sonar buoys in the water for over three days in the area, no loud, violent noise indicative of an implosion was detected. However, based on the proximity of the debris field to the shipwreck and the timing of the last communication with the Titan, it appeared that the failure occurred near the end of its descent on Sunday.

The U.S. Navy also acknowledged that their own analysis of acoustic data revealed an anomaly consistent with an implosion or explosion near the location where the submersible lost communication. This information was promptly shared with the search mission commanders. The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed U.S. defense officials, reported that the sound was detected by a classified system designed to detect enemy submarines.

Filmmaker James Cameron, renowned for directing the Oscar-winning movie "Titanic" and having personally explored the wreck in submersibles, stated in an interview with Reuters that he learned of the acoustic findings and immediately recognized their significance. He sent out emails on Monday morning, informing his contacts that the submersible had imploded and was now in pieces on the seabed.

During the search operation, sonar buoys dropped by aircraft picked up some sounds on Tuesday and Wednesday, giving a temporary glimmer of hope that the Titan was still intact and its occupants were alive, attempting to communicate by banging on the hull. However, officials later deemed the analysis of the sound inconclusive, suggesting that the noises likely originated from another source.

Rear Admiral Mauger stated on Thursday that there seemed to be no connection between the noises and the location on the sea floor.

Recovery of Remains Doubtful
According to Mauger, robotic craft on the seabed will continue to gather evidence, although it remains uncertain whether the recovery of the victims' remains will be feasible due to the nature of the accident and the extreme conditions at such depths.

Over the next 24 hours, personnel and vessels involved in the search operation will begin to demobilize, as stated by the admiral.

As the search progressed on Thursday, the situation grew increasingly dire, considering that the estimated 96-hour air supply for the submersible would have run out if the Titan were still intact. However, this countdown became irrelevant.

The RMS Titanic, which sank after striking an iceberg during its maiden voyage in 1912, claiming the lives of over 1,500 people, rests approximately 900 miles (1,450 km) east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and 400 miles (640 km) south of St. John's, Newfoundland.

OceanGate has been conducting undersea expeditions to the Titanic wreck since 2021, with a cost of $250,000 per person, according to the company's website.

Concerns regarding the safety of the Titan were previously raised during a symposium of submersible industry experts in 2018 and in a lawsuit brought by OceanGate's former head of marine operations, which was later resolved that same year.

The extensive search effort covered over 10,000 square miles of ocean. On Thursday, two specialized deep-sea robot vehicles were deployed to expand the search further into the depths of the ocean. The mission was complicated by immense pressure and complete darkness at those depths.

The fate of the tourist submersible gained global attention, partly due to the mythos surrounding the Titanic. The "unsinkable" British passenger liner has captivated the public imagination for a century, inspiring numerous nonfiction and fictional accounts, including the blockbuster 1997 movie "Titanic," which reignited popular interest in the story.