LIVE | Submersible Titan is destroyed at the bottom of the sea and there are no survivors: it suffered a “catastrophic” loss of pressure

The five passengers aboard the Titan submersible lost Sunday while on a sightseeing tour of the wreckage titanic in the North Atlantic they lost their lives after the remains found showed an “implosion” of the ship. “The remains are consistent with a catastrophic loss of chamber pressure” of the Titan, whose communication was lost on Sunday two hours after starting the dive with five people on board, announced the US Coast Guard, coordinators of this complex. search operation involving ships, planes and robots.

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LOOK: How is Titan, the submarine capable of reaching the bottom of the ocean to get closer to the Titanic (and how much does the trip cost)

The search, in which ships, robots and planes participate, had entered a critical phase this Thursday, since the 96 hours of emergency oxygen available to the private company’s Titan submersible Ocean Gate Expeditionswould have sold out at 11:08 GMT this Thursday.

Nevertheless, Rescuers hold out hope of finding the passengers alive.

LOOK: What would happen to your body if you tried to dive to the Titanic?

“We continue to see in particularly complex cases that people’s will to live must also be taken into account,” US Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger told NBC’s Today show shortly before the new find.

“Therefore, we continue to search and proceed with the rescue efforts,” he added.

The Titan submarine is capable of reaching where the Titanic is sunk. (Ocean Gate).

The Polar Prince mother shipfrom the Canadian company Horizon Maritime, lost all contact with the submersible less than two hours after starting a dive that should have lasted about seven hours, to visit the remains of the mythical ocean liner titanicwhich lies almost 4,000 meters deep and 600 km from the mainland, in Newfoundland.

On board were the British millionaire Hamish Harding, president of the Action Aviation company; the Pakistani Shahzada Dawood, vice president of Engro, and his son Suleman -both also with British nationality-; the expert French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet; and Stockton Rush, CEO of OceanGate Expeditions, the company that operates the submersible, and which charged $250,000 per tourist.

Five ships, to which another five will be added in the next few hours, equipped with sonars and state-of-the-art equipment, are combing an area of ​​some 20,000 square kilometersapproximately the size of El Salvador, and at a depth of almost four kilometers, while from the air, several planes cross the sky in search of any trace of the submersible.

Methods to find a submarine. (AFP).

The Pentagon announced the shipment of a third C-130 aircraft and three C-17s, while an underwater robot sent by the French Oceanographic Institute was to join the search on Wednesday.

“This is an extremely complex operation due to the remoteness of the place and the coordination between multiple agencies and countries”Frederick acknowledged.

“We understand that these are extremely difficult times for the families” of the missing, said Frederick, who stressed that “the unified team is working tirelessly to bring all available means and knowledge as quickly as possible.”

Time is running out. Rescuers estimate that the emergency oxygen will run out in the next few hours.

This is what we know so far:

What happened?

The ship 6.5 meters long started his dive on sunday but lost contact with the surface less than two hours later, according to authorities.

LOOK: A submersible that takes tourists and experts to visit the remains of the Titanic disappears with 5 people on board

“Since some time we have not been able to establish communication with one of our exploration vehicles submersible who is currently visiting the site of the shipwreck of the titanic”, The company that operates the ship told AFP on Monday night, Ocean Gate ExpeditionYes, in a statement.

The company uses a submersible called “Titan” for your dives to the area of ​​the historic shipwreckwith seats priced at $250,000 each, according to its website.

Hamish Harding, Stockton Rush, Paul-Henri Nargeolet, Suleman Dawood and his father Shahzada Dawood, the crew members of the Titan submersible. (AFP). (JOEL SAGETHANDOUT/)

Who’s on board?

One of the passengers was identified as the British businessman Hamish Hardingwhose aviation company had posted on social media about their expedition to the area.

Harding58-year-old aviator, space tourist and president of the association Action Aviationposted on his Instagram Sunday that he was proud to join OceanGate’s Titanic mission.

The Pakistani Entrepreneur Shahzada Dawood and her son Suleman Dawood They are also on the boat.

“For now, contact with the submersible has been lost and the information available is limited,” His family said in a statement.

Shahzada Dawood andHe is vice chairman of Karachi-based conglomerate Engro, which has investments in energy, agriculture, petrochemicals and telecommunications.

The search for the Titan. (AFP).

Where did the ship disappear?

The rescuers have been searching in a remote area of ​​the North Atlantic where the remains of the titanic -sunk in 1912- 650 kilometers from the coast of Newfoundland, Canadaand about 4,000 meters deep in the ocean.

What is the latest information on the rescue?

The United States Coast Guard reported that it assigned two planes to the tasks and the Canadian authorities sent a plane and a ship for exploration.

Time is a critical factor, as the boat has a maximum of 96 hours of oxygen autonomy for the breathing of five people.

US Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger told reporters in Boston on Monday that he believed there were still 70 hours or more available.

But, without collecting reports of sightings of the submersible or communication signals from the scouts, his rescue team called off search flights for the night.

This image taken during the 1986 historic dive, courtesy of WHOI, shows the bow of the Titanic. (AFP). (-/)

Why visit the Titanic?

He transatlantic of 46,000 tons -considered then the largest passenger ship in the world- struck an iceberg and sank on her maiden voyage from England to New York in April 1912 with 2,224 passengers and crew on board.

More than 1,500 people diedsome of whom were magnates and aristocrats.

He disaster it was popularized as an example of hubris, as the ship had been touted as an industrial age miracle and unsinkable.

Some also saw an episode of discrimination in the accident, since the vast majority of the passengers who died were in second or third class.

He shipwreck It was located in 1985 by a joint expedition of the United States and France, which deepened the fascination for this catastrophe, fueled several films -the last great success is 1997 with the stars Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio- and also generated lucrative underwater tourism , but at the same time high risk.

Source: Elcomercio