Authorities are searching for the reason a submersible carrying people to the wreck of the Titanic imploded deep in the North Atlantic, as questions emerged about how such expeditions are regulated and tributes poured in for the five aboard who were killed.
It comes amid uncertainty over whether the bodies of the five men who were seeking a trip of a lifetime to the Titanic wreck - including a London-based businessman and his son - will be recovered.
Constellation Marine Services director Captain John Noble told Sky News that the five men are “in a resting place along with hundreds of Titanic passengers”.
“The decision may well be to leave them in peace where they are,” he said.
He said the implosion is expected to be the “start of a very long path by regulators” to tighten rules around deep-sea exploration.
The victims are London-based businessman Shahzada Dawood, his son Suleman, British billionaire adventurer Hamish Harding, Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet and Oceangate chief executive and Titan pilot Stockton Rush.
The US Coast Guard confirmed the tail cone of the deep-sea vessel was discovered around 1,600 ft from the bow of the Titanic wreckage during a press conference in Boston.
Rear Admiral John Mauger said further debris was also found, in the North Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Newfoundland, that was “consistent with a catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber”.
Undersea expert Paul Hankin said five major pieces of debris helped to identify it as from the Titan submersible - including the vessel’s nose cone and the front end bell of the pressure hull.
According to court documents, safety concerns had previously been raised about the Titan submersible by a former employee of OceanGate.
