A debris field has been discovered within the search area for the missing Titan submersible.
The US Coast Guard (USCG) confirmed this afternoon that a remotely-operated vehicle (ROV) made the discovery near the wreckage of the Titanic on Thursday.
The hunt for the missing deep-sea vessel is still considered an "active search and rescue" mission after it lost communication on Sunday, despite expectations that the vessel, which had five people onboard, was due to lose oxygen supply earlier this afternoon.
READ MORE - Missing Titanic submersible LIVE updates as oxygen supplies estimated to have run out
USCG officials said they were "evaluating the information" following Thursday’s debris discovery.
The vessel was about 435 miles south of St John’s, Newfoundland, during a voyage to the Titanic shipwreck off the coast of Canada when it last made contact.
The Titan vessel, operated by US-based firm OceanGate, had five men on board when it departed to explore the wreckage of the Titanic and contact with the small submarine was lost less than two hours into its dive.
British billionaire Hamish Harding, British businessman Shahzada Dawood, his son Suleman Dawood, OceanGate's US-based chief executive and founder Stockton Rush and French submersible pilot Paul-Henri Nargeolet were all onboard the vessel when it departed.
Following the discovery of the debris field, a press conference will be held later this evening to discuss the findings, led by Rear Admiral John Mauger, First Coast Guard District commander and First Coast Guard District response coordinator Jamie Frederick.
The USCG said the ROV that made the discovery was from the Canadian Horizon Arctic ship – with the debris being found on the sea floor near the Titanic wreckage.
Assistance from the Royal Air Force (RAF) is due to arrive in St John’s on Thursday after it confirmed a request was received overnight for help with movement of additional commercial equipment.
Two RAF planes, a C-17 Globemaster and A400 Atlas, departed RAF Lossiemouth in north-east Scotland on Thursday.
