News June 22, 2023
Sub Crew on Titanic Mission Believed to Be Dead
Getty Images
The five-man crew that set out to explore Titanic wreckage in a sub called the Titan is believed to be dead, CNN reports.
OceanGate, the company behind the mission, told the site in a statement, “We now believe that our CEO Stockton Rush, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood, Hamish Harding, and Paul-Henri Nargeolet, have sadly been lost.”
The news comes after CNN reported that a debris field discovered near the Titanic wreckage was from the exterior of the Titan. The Coast Guard confirmed during a press conference that the debris was "consistent with the catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber.”
Search crews were able to find “five different major pieces of debris” including the nose cone and tail cone of the Titan.
Rear Adm. John Mauger, the First Coast Guard District commander told reporters, “This is an incredibly unforgiving environment down there on the sea floor, and the debris is consistent with a catastrophic implosion of the vessel."
The OceanGate statement called the five men “true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion for exploring and protecting our world’s oceans.”
The message continued, “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 company also thanked those that helped with rescue efforts. It was a race against time, as their oxygen was due to run out in the early hours Thursday morning.
The statement said, “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.”
“Extra” spoke with scientist Dr. Michael Guillen, who had his own close call on a mission to explore the Titanic in 2000.
He told Billy Bush, “I lived through hell,” adding, “I’m just dying a thousand deaths here. It’s bringing it all back to me... It’s just making me sick.”
Guillen recounted his experience at the bottom of the Atlantic, “Everything was going fine… we even had a moment of prayer at the bow of the ship.”
Things took a turn, however, when they “got caught up in a high speed underwater current.”
“We got slammed in behind the blades of the propeller… shards of Titanic came showering down on our little submersible. I knew this was going to be a life or death situation.”
Sharing his thoughts on the Titan, he said, “Pure speculation is that they must have suffered more than just a catastrophic communications failure. They must have suffered a more catastrophic failure that involved the entire ship.”
