A “debris field” was found late Thursday morning amid desperate search efforts for a submersible that disappeared during an underwater journey to the final resting place of the Titanic.
“A debris field was discovered within the search area by [a Remote Operated Vehicle] near the Titanic,” the U.S. Coast Guard said in a tweet just before noon. “Experts within the unified command are evaluating the information.”
The agency did not immediately provide any additional details, including whether officials believe the debris is connected to the Titan, a 22-foot carbon-fiber and titanium craft reported overdue on Sunday. It lost contact about an hour and 45 minutes after it dipped beneath the waters of the Atlantic Ocean with five people onboard, including British billionaire Hamish Harding, as well as prominent Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son, Suleman.
Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate Expeditions, which operates the sub, and French diver Paul Henry Nargeolet, who is a Titanic expert, were also onboard.
The complex search and rescue mission, spanning multiple agencies from around the world, has grown to an area twice the size of Connecticut and includes a series of ships, helicopters and drones. They were joined early Thursday by an ROV associated with the Canadian vessel Horizon Arctic, a remote-operated robot that officials said uncovered the debris field.
Equipped with 96 hours of oxygen, the Coast Guard estimated the submersible would be without breathable air sometime between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m.
In the hours since the deadline passed, experts encouraged optimism, emphasizing the exact situation aboard the deep-sea vessel is still mostly a mystery. Passengers may have taken extra measures to conserve oxygen, they said, adding that the initial estimates about the remaining amount of air on the sub are imprecise.
Frank Owen, a submarine search-and-rescue expert, said the oxygen supply figure is a useful “target” for searchers, but is only based on a “nominal amount of consumption.” He added that the diver onboard has also likely advised fellow passengers to “do anything to reduce your metabolic levels so that you can actually extend this.”
OceanGate co-founder Guillermo Söhnlein echoed the sentiment, offering a small glimmer of hope despite the ever-running clock. He told CNN those onboard would have “realized days ago that the best thing they can do to ensure their rescue is to extend the limits of those supplies by relaxing as much as possible.”
Based on the crew members’ expertise, the “window available” for rescue is longer than “what most people think,” Söhnlein added.
The Coast Guard is “going to continue with the search and rescue efforts” throughout Thursday, Rear Admiral John Mauger told the TODAY show.
“We use all available data and information to prosecute those searches but we continue to find particularly in complex cases that peoples’ will to live really needs to be accounted for as well,” Mauger said.
He added that “teams were working really hard through the night” and that personnel with “deep sea medical expertise” have since arrived at the site.
The French government-backed vessel L’Atalante is also gearing up to deploy its own ROV, Victor 6000, into the ocean, the Coast Guard said. The unmanned vehicle can dive up to 20,000 feet, which is deeper than any other equipment currently scouring the area surrounding the Titanic’s final resting place.
The ocean liner went down April 14, 1912, just days into its maiden voyage, killing 1,500 people. The wreckage sits about 12,500 feet beneath waters roughly 350 miles off the coast of Newfoundland.
The Coast Guard said it will provide an update on the debris at 3 p.m.