OceanGate has announced that the five people onboard a missing submersible have died.
“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,” the company said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE.
“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,” the statement continued.
In a press conference on Thursday, the U.S. Coast Guard confirmed that an ROV discovered debris 1,600 feet from the bough of the tailbone of the ‘Titanic’ wreckage on the sea floor.
The Coast Guard said that the debris that they found was consistent with the catastrophic loss of pressure in the ‘Titan’ chamber.
“This is an extremely sad time for our dedicated employees who are exhausted and grieving deeply over this loss,” read the company statement. “The entire OceanGate family is deeply grateful for the countless men and women from multiple organisations 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,” the statement concluded. “We respectfully ask that the privacy of these families be respected during this most painful time.”
The OceanGate Expedition submersible named Titan went missing on Sunday while venturing into the depths of the North Atlantic Ocean to view the Titanic wreckage.
The Coast Guard announced just before noon ET on Thursday that a remotely-operated vehicle (ROV) had discovered “a debris field” within the search area near the Titanic.
OceanGates’s statement was shared shortly before the conference began.
The search for the Titan began shortly after the sub “lost all communication” with Canadian expedition vessel Polar Prince “approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes” into its dive, United States Coast Guard Captain Jamie Frederick said at a press conference in Boston on Tuesday.
The Titan was equipped with an estimated 96 hours of oxygen at the start of the expedition, according to Frederick.
PEOPLE has confirmed the passengers on the vessel were OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, his son Suleman Dawood, Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet and British billionaire Hamish Harding, who serves as chairman for Action Aviation.
Action Aviation said the sub “had a successful launch” at 4 a.m. on Sunday. The company also shared an image of Harding before boarding the Titan.
The U.S. Coast Guard admiral leading the search for the Titan, which is operated by OceanGate Expeditions, confirmed on Wednesday that an aircraft with sonar buoys detected noise in the water on Tuesday.
“It’s a target, it’s a focus for us to look at,” Rear Admiral John Mauger told CBS Mornings of the noises, though he added, “We don’t know the source of that noise.”
“This is an incredibly complex case,” Mauger added when asked if he was optimistic about the rescue mission.
On Tuesday, retired NASA astronaut Colonel Terry Virts shared the final text message he received from Harding during an appearance on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, according to the New York Post.
“Hey, we’re headed out tomorrow, it looks good, the weather’s been bad so they’ve been waiting for this,” the 58-year-old billionaire wrote, according to Virts.
In a statement released after the tragic news was shared, the Explorers Club shared a statement mourning the loss of the five men.
“Our hearts are broken. I am so sorry to have to share this tragic news. Our friends and fellow Explorers Club members Hamish Harding and Paul-Henri Nargeolet are lost, along with Stockton Rush, Shahzada Dawood, and his son Suleman, while trying to reach the RMS Titanic,” read a statement from President Richard Garriott de Cayeux that was obtained by PEOPLE.
“Hamish Harding is a dear friend to me personally and to The Explorers Club. He holds several world records and has continued to push dragons off maps both in person and through supporting expeditions and worthy causes. Paul-Henri was elected to the Club in 2001 and was one of the foremost experts on submersible expeditions to the Titanic. They were both drawn to explore, like so many of us and did so in the name of meaningful science for the betterment of mankind,” the president added.
“They pushed themselves in their entrepreneurial pursuits as they did in exploration. Stockton Rush was a friend of The Explorers Club and conducted lectures at our headquarters.”
“While we did not know Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman personally, their desire to explore as a family would have led them to our doorstep at some point in their futures, where we would have welcomed them,” the statement continued. “We’re heartbroken for the families, friends, and colleagues of those who were lost. Their memories will be a blessing and will continue to inspire us in the name of science and exploration.”
