Everything We Know as Titan Sub Search Ends In Tragedy

Officials with the U.S. Coast Guard confirmed on Thursday that all five victims' lives on the Titan submersible were lost, with debris suggesting that a "catastrophic implosion" occurred.

During a press conference, U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger said that a remote-operated vehicle discovered debris in the wreckage area of the Titanic, where the Titan submersible was traveling to.

"The debris is consistent with the catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber. Upon this determination, we immediately notified the families on behalf of the United States Coast Guard and the entire unified command. I offer my deepest condolences to the families I can only imagine what this has been like for them," Mauger said.

The comments by Mauger come several days after the Titan submersible, operated by OceanGate Expeditions, first disappeared on Sunday while in the Atlantic Ocean. The submersible had five passengers on board—Captain Hamish Harding, Shahzada Dawood, Suleman Dawood, Paul-Henri Nargeolet and Stockton Rush—and was traveling to visit the wreckage of the RMS Titanic, which sank in 1912.

In a statement to Newsweek on Tuesday, OceanGate Expeditions confirmed that they had lost communication with the Titan and were working with outside agencies to reestablish communication and find the vessel.

Over the past several days, officials from the U.S. Coast Guard have been actively searching for the submersible as they believed there was only enough breathable oxygen to last until Thursday.

In a statement on Thursday, OceanGate Expeditions also confirmed that the passengers of the vessel had died. In a statement, the company said: "These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world's oceans.

"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," the statement said.

During the press conference on Thursday, Mauger also said that this search was "highly complex" and noted that future submersibles like the Titan will likely see heightened safety testing regulations.

"I know that there's a lot of questions about why, how, when this happened, and the members of the Unified Command have those questions, too," Mauger said. "But those questions about the regulations that apply, and the standards, that's going to be, I'm sure, focus of future review."