The company that owns the missing Titan submersible says it thinks the five passengers onboard have "sadly been lost." OceanGate has released a statement five days on from Titan's passengers first beginning their dive to see the wreck of the Titanic, which was discovered in the 1980s.
OceanGate has been warning about the declining levels of oxygen on the submersible for the last few days but in a statement tonight (June 22), the company says it is grieving the "loss of life."
The full statement by OceanGate, as reported by the BBC, reads: "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.
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"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. We grieve the loss of life and joy they brought to everyone they knew.
"This is an extremely sad time for our dedicated employees who are exhausted and grieving deeply over this loss. The entire OceanGate family is deeply grateful for the countless men and women from multiple organizations of the international community who expedited wide-ranging resources and have worked so very hard on this mission.
"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 very sad time for the entire explorer community, and for each of the family members of those lost at sea.
"We respectfully ask that the privacy of these families be respected during this most painful time." A news conference moments after the statement was released said that debris found by search and rescue teams is consistent with a "catastrophic implosion."
