OceanGate presumes dead all five passengers aboard the Titan missing in the Atlantic

MADRID, 22 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) -

OceanGate, the maker of the Titan submarine that disappeared on Sunday during a dive to visit the Titanic's wreckage, has presumed dead all five men aboard the submersible who were lost in Atlantic waters after oxygen ran out at board.

"Our hearts go out to their five souls and each member of their families during this tragic time," the company said in a statement, adding that the five Titan passengers shared "a great passion for exploring and protecting the oceans of everyone".

On board the submersible were the founder of the company that organized expeditions, Stockton Rush, the British businessman and adventurer Hamish Harding, the French explorer Paul Henry Nargeolet, the Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman.

The experts estimated the possibility of survival of the five passengers aboard the submarine in up to 96 hours, although they had established 7:08 am local time (1:08 pm peninsular time in Spain) on Thursday as the threshold.

The United States Coast Guard has reported shortly before that a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) has located debris near the area in which the submersible is being searched. The French ship 'L'Atalante' and the Canadian 'Horizon Arctic' have deployed their own robots throughout the day.

The submarine disappeared on Sunday about 700 kilometers off the Newfoundland coast, with no clues to its whereabouts at this time. She lost contact with the surface less than two hours after starting the dive.

The luxury liner 'Titanic' is located about 600 kilometers off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, at a depth of 3,800 meters below the sea surface. Its shipwreck occurred in 1912 and resulted in more than 1,500 deaths, although the remains of the wreck were not located until 1985.