OceanGate still advertising Titanic trips after “catastrophic implosion” of Titan sub which left 5 dead.
It had been speculated that the submersible may have run out of electrical power, or become entangled in something in the depths of the Atlantic Ocean.
However, if the debris field identified by the ROV is linked to the Titan mission, the situation could be very different. Sky’s US correspondent James Matthews, reporting from Boston, described the updated statement as “significant”.
He added: “The word ‘debris’ doesn’t sound good at all in a situation and at a depth where the water pressure is huge.
“It can do considerable damage to vessels – the like of the Titan – on the seabed, 4,000m (13,123ft) down.
“Should the worst have happened, and that vessel was broken up somehow by the pressures at that depth, the word ‘debris’ would absolutely fit that worst-case scenario.”
The Coast Guard said Thursday morning one of the robots started searching for sub on the sea floor. Another robot was also added to the search effort Thursday.
The sub launched into the Atlantic from a Canadian research vessel Sunday morning, and the vessel lost contact with the Titan an hour and 45 minutes into the dive.
He details that passengers were required to sign a waiver that mentioned death three times on the first page.
The debris field was found by a remotely operated vehicle deployed by Horizon Arctic, a Canadian vessel.
The ROV, which is equipped with cameras and sonar, had successfully managed to reach the sea floor.
What is a debris field?
Investigators and search and rescue are still unclear as to exactly what happened to the OceanGate vessel that went missing last weekend. The voyage was supposed to take four tourists and the machine’s creator, OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, to the wreckage of the Titanic.
