Missing Sub Imploded, 5 Believed Dead, Including NJ Grad: Officials

NEW JERSEY — Coast Guard officials say all five onboard the Titan submersible that had been missing since Sunday are believed to be dead, including a Princeton University graduate who was CEO of the company that organized the expedition, as debris found is consistent with the vessel imploding.

The tail cone of the Titan was found around 1,600 feet from the bow of the Titanic on the ocean floor, Rear Admiral John Mauger, of the U.S. Coast Guard, said at a Thursday afternoon news conference. The location where the Titan debris was found is not in an area where there is any debris from the shipwreck, officials said.

The tour was organized by OceanGate Expeditions, who released a statement to media shortly before the Coast Guard press conference saying “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.”

Rush, 61, graduated from Princeton University in 1984 with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering, the University confirmed. He founded OceanGate Expeditions in 2009.

The five men had descended in a submersible craft Sunday morning, on an expedition to see the wreckage of the ocean liner more than two miles under the sea.

The Titan, a 21-foot submersible, was reported overdue Sunday night about 435 miles south of St. John's, Newfoundland in Canada. The craft submerged Sunday morning, and its support vessel lost contact with it about an hour and 45 minutes later.

Officials announced earlier Thursday that a remote operated vehicle — or ROV — had found debris near the site of the Titanic wreck. The ROV was deployed by the Canadian Vessel Horizon Arctic and reached the ocean floor Thursday morning.

The debris was consistent with a catastrophic implosion, according to Mauger, and the families of the missing were immediately notified.

“On behalf of the United States Coast Guard and the entire unified command, I offer my deepest condolences to the families," he 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."

The ROV found five major pieces of debris from the Titan, Paul Hankin, the director of salvage operations and ocean engineering, said at the news conference. The front of the pressure haul was found in a large debris field and the other end of the pressure haul was found in a smaller debris field, Hankin said.

Calling it an "incredibly unforgiving environment," Mauger said he didn't have an answer for what the prospects are for recovering the bodies of the crew members.

Before the remote vehicle reached the floor, the search for the missing submersible in the North Atlantic Ocean was concentrated to the area where "banging" noises were detected underwater, though officials were unsure of the source of the sound.

For days, officials raced against the clock in a vast search and rescue attempt that involved resources from multiple countries.

Washington-based OceanGate began bringing tourists to the Titanic in 2021, to study the deterioration of the wreck.

The expedition was OceanGate's third annual voyage to chronicle the deterioration of the Titanic, which struck an iceberg and sank in 1912, killing all but about 700 of the roughly 2,200 passengers and crew. Since the wreckage's discovery in 1985, it has been slowly succumbing to metal-eating bacteria.

Related articles:

• Missing Submersible Imploded, All 5 Believed Dead: Coast Guard
• What To Know About OceanGate, Owner Of Lost Submersible
• Princeton Grad Missing In His Company's Titanic Submersible

Rush spent his life as an adventurer of the sea and sky. He became the youngest jet transport-rated pilot in the world at 19 in 1981, decades before he founded Washington-based OceanGate in 2009, according to the company.

OceanGate, however, has attracted scrutiny and in 2018 drew concern from dozens of industry leaders, according to The New York Times.

In a letter to Rush, the Marine Technology Society said it was critical that the company submit its prototype to tests overseen by an expert third party before launching in order to safeguard passengers.

The letter expressed concern that the company's "experimental" approach could have minor or catastrophic negative outcomes.

David Lochridge, OceanGate's former director of marine operations, expressed concern that the craft’s passenger viewport was only certified for depths of up to 1,300 meters, while the Titanic sits at 4,000 meters.

OceanGate's choices would "subject passengers to potential extreme danger in an experimental submersible," said a counterclaim from Lochridge against the company — filed after the company took legal action against him.

Lochridge also had worries about OceanGate’s use of acoustic monitoring to detect flaws in the vessel.

“At some point, safety just is pure waste,” Rush told a CBS News podcast last year. “I mean, if you just want to be safe, don’t get out of bed. Don’t get in your car. Don’t do anything.”

This story contains reporting from Patch's Sarah Salvadore and Anna Schier.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.