All of the passengers in the missing Titan submersible are believed to be dead, says the company which operates the tour. OceanGate made a statement on Thursday (June 22) night shortly before 8pm UK time saying it "grieved the loss of life and joy they brought to everyone they [the passengers] knew".
In the statement, the company names all five of the passengers who were on the submersible. Rescue teams have been searching for the craft - which includes a British billionaire onboard - after it went missing near the wreck site of the Titanic ocean liner.
The deep-sea craft named Titan was reported overdue about 435 miles south of St John’s in Newfoundland, Canada, on Sunday (June 19) evening. Now, OceanGate has said that, in spite of the best efforts of the US Coast Guard and other agencies, they believe that all have perished at sea.
The statement said: "We now believe that our CEO Stockton Rush, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood, Hamish Harding, and Paul-Henri Nargeolet, have sadly been lost. These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world’s oceans.
"Our hearts are with these five souls and every member of their families during this tragic time. We grieve the loss of life and joy they brought to everyone they knew.
"This is an extremely sad time for our dedicated employees who are exhausted and grieving deeply over this loss. The entire OceanGate family is deeply grateful for the countless men and women from multiple organizations of the international community who expedited wide-ranging resources and have worked so very hard on this mission.
"We appreciate their commitment to finding these five explorers, and their days and nights of tireless work in support of our crew and their families. This is a very sad time for the entire explorer community, and for each of the family members of those lost at sea.
"We respectfully ask that the privacy of these families be respected during this most painful time."
