Days after the Titanic submersible with five people onboard went missing, the US Coast Guard on Thursday announced that a debris field has been discovered within the search area by an ROV near the wreckage.
Moments after the US Coast Guard on Thursday announced that a debris field has been discovered within the missing Titanic submersible search area by an ROV near the wreckage, OceanGate co-founder Guillermo Sohnlein stated that there may have been an 'instantaneous implosion'.
"A debris field was discovered within the search area by an ROV near the Titanic. Experts within the unified command are evaluating the information," wrote the US Coast Guard on Twitter, giving an update on the missing OceanGate vessel Titan with five people onboard.
A debris field was discovered within the search area by an ROV near the Titanic. Experts within the unified command are evaluating the information. 1/2
— USCGNortheast (@USCGNortheast)A remote operated vehicle discovered a "debris field" near the wreckage of the Titanic in the ongoing search for the missing submersible. : "This is not a good sign...what could have happened is some type of implosion here. We're still waiting for official word." pic.twitter.com/aR964JzKjx
— ABC News Live (@ABCNewsLive)A statement from the Coast Guard says the Horizon Arctic’s ROV (remotely operated vehicle) found debris on the sea floor near the Titanic wreck. In an interview with the BBC, Sohnlein stated that he would not be surprised if there was something on the surface.
"I know that our protocol for lost comms is for the pilot to surface the sub. From the beginning I always thought that’s probably what Stockton would have done. In which case it becomes very difficult to find the sub because the surface ship wouldn’t have known it was coming up and wouldn’t have known where to look," the OceanGate co-founder told BBC.
Sohnlein said there was a possibility there had been a catastrophe. He added, "My biggest fear through this whole thing watching the operations unfold is that they’re floating around on the surface and they’re just very difficult to find. What I do know is regardless of the sub, when you’re operating at depth the pressure is so great on any sub that if there is a failure it would be an instantaneous implosion. If that’s what happened that’s what would have happened four days ago."
Sohnlein, who left OceanGate 10 years ago, said he would not have acted differently in the circumstances. "If anything, I think we need to go back and learn from what’s happening, find out what’s happened, take those lessons and carry them forward," he noted.
OceanGates' Titan vessel, which was travelling to the Titanic wreckage off the coast of Canada, lost contact with tour operators on Sunday while it was about 435 miles south of St. John's, Newfoundland. On Sunday afternoon, the most well-known shipwreck in the world was just above the final "ping" of its homing device. 96-hour oxygen support in the Titan vessel is said to have ran out today afternoon.
British billionaire Hamish Harding, OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, French naval veteran PH Nargeolet, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, and his son Suleman, who is only 19 years old, are among the 'Titan Five' who are still on board. The only man on board with the knowledge and experience to either help rescuers discover them or liberate the Titanic if it is stuck on the seabed is Nargeolet, who has visited the Titanic 35 times, more than any other individual.