The company responsible for the submersible which conducted tours on the Titanic says it believes five people aboard the Titan “were sadly lost”. .

Experts are analyzing the information collected by the underwater robot, the American organization said, without giving further details. A press conference to inform about the results of the analysis is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. local time (4:00 p.m. in Brasilia).

US and UK news vehicles, however, claim the wreckage is from the Titan. Citing an internal US Coast Guard document, broadcaster CNN reported that the wreckage was believed to be from outside the ship.

OceanGate Expeditions, which operated the Titan, said in a statement, also quoted by CNN, that the passengers were likely “unfortunately lost.”

The desperate search for Titan came to a head on Thursday morning, when the submersible’s oxygen supply may have run out.

The small tourist submarine was carrying a group of five people on an expedition to visit the wreck of the Titanic, at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.

The trip began last Friday, departing from Canada aboard the icebreaker Polar Prince. On Sunday, the Polar Prince reached the area where the Titanic sank, about 600 kilometers off the Canadian coast. Titan began its dive soon after, but eventually lost contact with its support ship.

The submersible departed with 96 hours of oxygen available on board, according to OceanGate Expeditions, which means the stock-depletion deadline ended Thursday morning — assuming the Titan is still intact.

“Fully committed” teams

US Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger said rescuers remained “fully engaged” in search operations. “People’s will to live must also be taken into account. We will continue to search,” he told NBC.

In the midst of a race against time, two other guided robots were deployed on Thursday in search of the submersible. The search, which also includes US and Canadian military aircraft and Coast Guard vessels, is taking place over a wide swath of the North Atlantic, from the surface of the ocean to a depth of nearly four kilometers.

On Wednesday, the US Coast Guard reported that underwater sounds had been detected. Teams then began to focus their efforts on the area near the “bang”, which raised hopes that the passengers were still alive – although experts could not confirm their origin.

On board the Titan are billionaire British businessman Hamish Harding, 58; Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his son, Suleman, 19; OceanGate chairman Stockton Rush, 61; and French submarine operator Paul-Henri Nargeolet, nicknamed “Mr. Titanic” because of his frequent dives there.

The Titanic Expedition

OceanGate Expeditions charges customers up to $250,000 for an eight-day, seven-night expedition that includes a spot aboard their submersible to view the famous wreck.

The dive to the wreck, including the round trip, takes about eight hours: there are about two hours one way, two hours return and more time to observe the wreck. The remains of the Titanic are at a depth of 3,800 meters.

The Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg on April 14, 1912. Its wreckage was not found until 1985 by American Robert Ballard.

ek (AFP, Reuters)