MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

No survivors: Titanic-watching sub believed to have imploded

The five bodies could not yet be retrieved

The Titan submarine that went missing Sunday when trying to catch a glimpse of the Titanic's wreckage in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean Sunday has been proven to have imploded, with no survivors among its 5-men crew, the US Coast Guard reported Thursday.

The news was released hours after finding debris in the vicinity of the wreckage of the 1912 passenger ship. The five bodies could not yet be retrieved. The US Coast Guard also confirmed that their findings were “consistent with the catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber.” The debris was 487 meters away from the Titanic's bow.

“I can only imagine what this has been like for them and I hope this finding provides some comfort during this difficult time,” Coast Guard John Mauger said.

“We now believe that our CEO Stockton Rush, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood, Hamish Harding, and Paul-Henri Nargeolet have sadly lost their lives,” reported OceanGate, the company owning the submersible.

“These men were true explorers who shared a distinctive spirit of adventure and a deep passion for knowing and protecting the world's oceans,” the company also said.

“Our hearts go out to these five souls and every member of their families during this tragic time. We mourn the loss of their lives and the joy they brought to everyone they knew,” it went on.

It is speculated that the Titan imploded following a crack in the hull of the ship, which is yet to be found. An implosion is the opposite of an explosion. It occurs when an object collapses and contracts inward under the action of forces, which can be either internal or external. It is believed that the Titan's implosion occurred when the external pressure of the sea at great depth exceeded the atmosphere inside the ship.

The implosion, by abruptly deforming the structure, would have generated very specific waves, which could be detected with hydrophonic tools or, failing that, devices such as seismographs. This theory is linked to the “thumping” sounds heard Wednesday in the area.

According to the Daily Mail, the Titan was never approved or certified by any regulatory body. A CBS News correspondent who participated in an OceanGate expedition said that “several parts of this submarine appeared to be improvised. The piloting of the ship is executed with a video game controller.”

To add to the irony of the tragedy, Wendy Rush, the wife of the Titan submersible pilot, is a great-great-granddaughter of Isidor and Ida Straus, an iconic couple who died in the 1912 sinking, The New York Times reported.

Tycoon Isidor Straus, born in 1845, owned a part of the famed Macy's department store. He and his wife Ida were among the wealthiest passengers who decided to embark on the ocean liner's maiden voyage.

According to testimonies, when the Strauses were being guided to their lifeboat, Isidor refused to board as long as there were women and children left aboard the ship. Ida similarly refused to do so without her husband, saying, “We have lived together for many years, so where you go I go too.” The couple was portrayed with varying degrees of prominence in the films made about the sinking.

Wendy is descended from one of the Straus daughters, Minnie, who married Richard Weil in 1905. Their son, Richard Weil Junior, presided over Macy's New York, and his son, Richard Weil III, is Wendy Rush's father, The New York Times explained citing sources at the Straus Historical Society.

Isidor Straus' body was found at sea two weeks after the sinking of the Titanic. Ida Straus' remains were never recovered.