The US Coast Guard has confirmed debris has been found in the area being searched for the missing submersible vessel Titan.
The search has been ongoing since the ship went missing with five people on board on Sunday (18 June), and continued today (22 June) after the Coast Guard expressed belief that the vessel had run out of oxygen.
Titan was believed to have had approximately 96 hours worth of oxygen left on board when it lost contact with its mothership on Sunday.
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Air on board the vessel is thought to have run out at approximately 8am EST, though Rear Admiral John Mauger insisted that the operation remained 'an active search and rescue' even after the clock ran out.
"We continue to keep the crew members and the families in our thoughts as we proceed with this search and rescue while we’re cognisant of the time and we’ve factored in a lot of data and information into the search," Mauger said this morning.
This afternoon, the US Coast Guard announced a 'debris field' had been found in the search area off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada by a remotely-operated vehicle searching near the wreckage of the Titanic.
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The Coast Guard added that they were 'evaluating the information' following the discovery of the debris, and that there will be a press briefing with updates on the situation at 3pm EST.
A number of remotely-operated vehicles (ROVs) have been involved in the search to track down Titan, with search teams having to rely on equipment that is able to withstand the extreme pressures of the deep ocean.
The ROV which found the debris is operated by a Canadian vessel called Horizon Arctic, which has a hangar for ROVs with a launch and recovery system.
Sean Leet, co-founder and chairman of the vessel's owner, Horizon Maritime Services, said the ship had been loaded with an ROV supplied by the US military prior to its arrival at the search area.
A total of five passengers were on board Titan when it set off on Sunday, all of who were sealed in to the vessel by a crew on the outside before being lowered into the water.
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The passengers include Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate, which ran the trips down to the Titanic, as well as experienced mariner Paul-Henri Nargeolet, British businessman Hamish Harding, and father and son Shahzada Dawood and Suleman Dawood.
The University of Strathclyde, where 19-year-old Suleman was a student, issued a statement after Titan disappeared to say its thoughts were with the passengers 'families and loved ones'.
Emily Brown