Tragic outcome for this expedition. The five passengers of the submersible lost since Sunday in the North Atlantic, near the wreck of the Titanic, died in the “catastrophic implosion” of this small scientific tourist submarine, announced Thursday the American Coast Guard and the expedition organizer.
“We now believe that our boss Stockton Rush, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, Hamish Harding and Paul-Henri Nargeolet are sadly dead,” said the American company OceanGate Expeditions in a press release, after four days of research which captivated the United States and abroad. “The debris field” found by the search robots near the mythical wreck, by nearly 4,000 meters deep, “is compatible with a catastrophic implosion” of the submersible, declared, for his part, Rear Admiral John Mauger of the United States Coast Guard, during a press briefing in Boston, on the northeast coast of the United States. He spoke of a “catastrophic loss” of pressure at the origin of the accident.
Who are the victims ?
The boss of OceanGate, the American Stockton Rush, was on board alongside a wealthy British businessman, Hamish Harding (58), former diver and navy soldier, Frenchman Paul-Henri Nargeolet (77) – nicknamed “Mr. Titanic” -, and Pakistani tycoon Shahzada Dawood (48) and his son Suleman (19) – both of whom are also British.
“These men were true explorers who shared a spirit of adventure and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the planet’s oceans,” OceanGate said, “mourning the loss of life.” US Rear Admiral Mauger offered his “sincere condolences” to the families of the missing.
What were the leads?
The US Coast Guard, leading an international search team, announced at midday on Twitter that a “debris field” had been located by a remote-controlled underwater robot in the “search area near the Titanic”, the famous cruise liner which sank 111 years ago off the coast of the United States and Canada.
Surveillance using C-130 or P3 aircraft, ships equipped with underwater robots: the United States and Canada had still deployed means Thursday morning in the North Atlantic, off the two countries, where the Polar Prince, the ship from which the small tourist submarine left on Sunday. The surface search area was 20,000 square kilometers.
Paris had dispatched the Atalante, a ship from the French Research Institute for the Exploitation of the Sea (Ifremer) equipped with a robot capable of diving to the wreck of the Titanic.
Barely the outcome of this tragedy known, the wall street journal revealed Thursday evening that the US Navy had detected on Sunday, shortly after the loss of contact with the device, a signal indicating the probable implosion of the submersible. “The US Navy has analyzed the acoustic data and detected an anomaly that may correspond to an implosion or explosion in the area where the Titan was operating when communications were lost,” an official told the US newspaper. The navy then relayed this information to those responsible for research at sea, a source told CNN television.
What are the reactions abroad?
On the London side, which lost three nationals, Foreign Minister James Cleverly deplored the “tragic news” on Twitter and expressed his government’s “support” and “deep condolences” to the families.
Islamabad said it was “sensitive to international efforts to search” for the submersible and its five occupants, including a Pakistani father and son. The family of the latter expressed their “deep sorrow” on Friday.
James Cameron, director of the film “Titanic” and avid explorer of the seabed, openly denounced on Thursday the “ignored warnings” about the safety of the tourist submersible. “I am struck by the similarity to the Titanic disaster, where the captain was repeatedly warned of the presence of ice ahead of his ship, and yet he sped full speed into an ice field on a moonless night. “, he remarked on the American channel ABC News.
“That a very similar drama, where the warnings were ignored” should happen “in the same place, (…) it is simply astounding”, lashed out the director of the film “Abyss”. “It’s really surreal.”