Vapeboss – A deep-sea submersible named "Titan" reportedly imploded while carrying five people on a voyage to the century-old wreck of the Titanic. The vessel was found in pieces due to a catastrophic implosion that killed everyone on board. This was announced by the US Coast Guard on Thursday, bringing an end to a massive international search for the vessel that went missing on Sunday.

A robotic submersible deployed from a Canadian ship found debris from the Titan submersible on Thursday morning on the seabed approximately 490m from the bow of the Titanic, which lies about 4km below the surface, in a remote corner of the North Atlantic, US Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger told reporters. The Titan was operated by the US-based company OceanGate Expeditions. It had been missing since losing contact with its surface support ship early Sunday, about an hour and 45 minutes into what should have been a two-hour dive to the world's most famous shipwreck.

The five people on board were British billionaire and explorer Hamish Harding, 58; Pakistan-born businessman Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his 19-year-old son, Suleman, both British citizens; French oceanographer and Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77, who had visited the wreck dozens of times; and Mr. Stockton Rush, 61, the American founder and chief executive of OceanGate, who was piloting the submersible.

OceanGate co-founder Guillermo Söhnlein dismissed criticism of his company's safety and certification, saying they had no issues during 14 years of developing the Titan submersible, according to a BBC report. 'Titanic' film director James Cameron, who has completed 33 dives to the ocean liner's wreck, told the BBC that the deep-sea diving community had warned OceanGate about safety issues.

The implosion itself reportedly occurred in less than 20 milliseconds. In fact, the human brain cannot even process information that quickly. Rescue teams from several countries had spent days searching thousands of square kilometers of open sea with planes and ships for any signs of the Titan. Robotic submersibles on the seabed will continue to gather evidence, Rear Admiral Mauger said, but it is unclear whether the recovery of victims' remains will be possible given the nature of the accident and the extreme conditions at that depth.

Source: straitstimes