THE SQUIZ
The frantic search for the Titan submersible and its 5 passengers that went missing on Sunday off America’s east coast has found parts from the vessel near the Titanic shipwreck. That’s led OceanGate, the operator of the deep sea tourism venture, to say that it believes the 5 passengers onboard have “sadly been lost”. They are Brit Hamish Harding, British-Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19yo son Suleman, French Titanic expert Paul-Henry Nargeolet and OceanGate’s boss Stockton Rush. “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 5 souls and every member of their families during this tragic time,” the company said in a statement.

WHAT’S THE OFFICIAL WORD?
Rear Admiral John Mauger from the US Coast Guard has confirmed that debris was likely caused by a “catastrophic event”. Five significant parts of the Titan have been found about 500m from the Titanic by an ROV (a remotely operated vehicle) from the Horizon Arctic, a Canadian commercial vessel which arrived yesterday. The parts found include the Titan’s landing frame and a rear cover from the tail cone. Guillermo Söhnlein, the co-founder of operator OceanGate, said a failure of the vessel while it was deep in the water would have resulted in “an instantaneous implosion” because of the pressure. “If that’s what happened, that’s what would have happened 4 days ago,” he said. Authorities thanked those involved in the expanded search effort covering a 22,530 square km search area in the belief that the vessel was intact and its emergency oxygen supply was running down.

SO THERE ARE QUESTIONS ABOUT SAFETY?
Totally. This week, court filings showing concerns were raised about Rush’s OceanGate operations in 2018 were discovered. And yesterday, UK-based marine biologist and oceanographer David Mearns said the deep-sea tourism industry needs to “reflect on bringing passengers to such remote locations and such great depths because if things go wrong, there are very, very few options to make a recovery”. But for now, the focus remains on retrieving what they can and collecting information from the site, but experts say it’s unlikely the remains of the passengers would be recovered due to the “unforgiving environment”. As for the families of those onboard, Admiral Mauger said “I can only imagine what this has been like for them, and I hope that this discovery provides some solace during this difficult time.”