OceanGate on Thursday said it will continue its mission of exploration and conservation, and will work closely with authorities in the investigation. OceanGate Expeditions on Thursday announced the “loss of life” of its pilot and chief executive Stockton Rush, along with passengers Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood, Hamish Harding, and Paul-Henri Nargeolet. This was after the U.S. Coast Guard said a debris field was found at the bottom of the ocean near the Titanic, and the critical 96-hour mark had passed when breathable air could have run out. Rescuers had rushed ships, planes and other equipment to the site of the disappearance, including an undersea robot sent by a Canadian ship and a deep-diving robot with cameras, lights and arms.

Authorities had also been listening for underwater sounds, which they believed could help narrow their search, and had detected noises on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Titan was reported overdue Sunday afternoon about 435 miles (700 kilometers) south of St. John’s, Newfoundland, as it was on its way to the Titanic wreckage site. OceanGate had been chronicling the Titanic’s decay and the underwater ecosystem around it via yearly voyages since 2021. Newly uncovered allegations suggest there had been significant warnings made about vessel safety during the submersible’s development. Dr. Rob Larter, a marine geophysicist with the British Antarctic Survey, said the difficulty in even finding something the size of the sub – which is about 22 feet (6.5 meters) long and 9 feet (nearly 3 meters) high – is immense. The U.S. Navy said it was sending a specialized salvage system that’s capable of hoisting “large, bulky and heavy undersea objects such as aircraft or small vessels”, and the Flyaway Deep Ocean Salvage System is designed to lift up to 60,000 pounds (27,200 kilograms). At least 46 people had successfully traveled on OceanGate’s submersible to the Titanic wreck site in 2021 and 2022, according to letters the company had filed with a U.S. District Court in Norfolk, Virginia. One of the company’s first customers characterized a dive he made to the site two years ago as a “kamikaze operation”, and spoke of the challenges on board the vessel. Nick Rotker, who leads underwater research for the nonprofit research and development company MITRE, said the difficulty in searching for the Titan has underscored the U.S.'s need for more underwater robots and remotely operated underwater vehicles. Nicolai Roterman, a deep-sea ecologist and lecturer in marine biology at the University of Portsmouth, England, said the disappearance of the Titan highlights the dangers and unknowns of deep-sea tourism. OceanGate said it would work closely with authorities in the investigation, and will continue its mission of exploration and conservation. Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said officials have confidence in the search efforts.Keywords: OceanGate, expedition, investigation, Titanic, deep-sea tourism