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The tourist submersible vessel that vanished while on its way to see the Titanic’s wreckage in the North Atlantic Ocean has been declared lost. OceanGate released a statement stating that they believed that the vessel was lost and the five crew members were dead, per CNN. “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,” they said in a statement.
The news of the discovery of the submersible vessel, named Titan, and its passengers comes TK Days after an extensive search for the 22-foot vessel was underway. It was first reported losing contact on Sunday, June 19, and was said to roughly be 900 miles east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and in around 13,000 feet deep in the water. The US Coast Guard immediately got their search started and various press conferences were made to update the public about the tragic situation.
As the search was underway, information about the five passengers was released and many hopeful people around the world were wishing for the best outcome. Many social media users and media outlets discussed the various scenarios the Titan may have been in and revealed how long it would have oxygen before the passengers would be in danger. Since all contact was lost, it was unknown if the vessel had electricity or not, or if there was a technical issue that caused the loss of contact. There was also speculation about whether or not there was enough food or water on board and if the submersible vessel was able to float back above the ocean in time.
Captain Jamie Frederick, the Coast Guard’s response coordinator in the search, gave details about what steps they would need to take once the vessel was found. “If the sub is located, then it’s up to the experts to tell us the next steps for salvaging and recovery,” he said on June 20, according to the Washington Post. “Right now, our effort is on searching.”
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