OceanGate Reveals Five 'Titan' Passengers Are No Longer Alive: 'They 'Have Sadly Been Lost'
By Favour Adegoke on June 23, 2023 at 1:15 AM EDT
OceanGate has announced that the passengers in its submersible are dead.
The company owned the ill-fated Titan vessel that went missing Sunday during a dive to view the Titanic wreckage.
In a press interview on Thursday, they announced the news, noting they were "grieving deeply over this loss." They also thanked those involved in the rescue since Sunday and asked for privacy for the deceased's family members.
Keep on reading to learn more.
'These Men Were True Explorers'
According to People magazine, OceanGate has confirmed that all five occupants of its missing submersible, Titan, "have sadly been lost."
Aboard the vehicle were CEO Stockton Rush, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood, Hamish Harding, and Paul-Henri Nargeolet
"These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world's oceans," read a statement from the company.
"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."
The statement, which noted that the staff members were "grieving deeply over this loss," also thanked those who had contributed to the search for the submersible.
It continued, "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 sorrowful time for the entire explorer community and each of the family members of those lost at sea."
Titan Lost Communication Barely Two Hours Into Its Dive
On Sunday, the Titan began its descent into the North Atlantic Ocean at 4 a.m. on an expedition to view the final resting place of the famous Titanic ship.
Approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes into its dive, it "lost all communication" with its mother ship, the Canadian expedition vessel Polar Prince, which prompted a search for it.
The submersible was hoped to be discovered before its 96 hours of oxygen were depleted. However, the air pressure levels at that depth raised concerns as to whether the rescue search for it would be successful.
Sadly, those fears came true as a debris field near the Titanic was discovered by a remotely operated vehicle on Thursday, as reported in a press conference by the U.S. Coast Guard.
Although no bodies were reported to have been found, the Coast Guard stated that the "debris was consistent with the catastrophic loss of pressure in the "Titan" chamber," which all but confirmed the deaths of its occupants.
Experts Claimed Chances Of Survival In The Titan Submarine Were Low
Before the debris was discovered, several sources claimed that the chances of survival for the Titan's occupants were bleak, per Daily Beast.
Among them is deep-water rescue expert Butch Hendrick, who also opined that the increase in anxiety levels of the submersible's occupants would have led to them depleting the oxygen even faster.
While he acknowledged the vessel had several independent mechanisms that would have allowed it to rise back on its own, he insisted that if salt water had shorted out the electrical system, those mechanisms would have been useless.
He also noted that the Titan never met international safety standards and was not equipped with a locator beacon that would have helped rescuers find it.
The vessel's safety was also criticized by several individuals who had previously used it for earlier underwater missions. One revealed they had severe mishaps during those expeditions and called the recent trip a "suicide mission."
'It Took So Long For Them To Get Going To Rescue Them'
The search for the vessel involved was a combined effort between the U.S. Navy, the Canadian Navy, and other well-meaning specialists.
However, a family member of the British billionaire Hamish Harding, who was aboard the vessel, opined that the search started late.
She slammed OceanGate for waiting eight hours before reporting to the authorities, despite being unable to communicate with the vessel shortly after its descent.
"It's very frightening. It took so long for them to get going to rescue them; it's far too long. I would have thought three hours would be the bare minimum," said the family member known as Kathleen Cosnett, per Daily Mail.
In the meantime, there is no news about the burial arrangements of the vessel's occupants, who reportedly paid $250,000 for the ill-fated trip.
