The U.S. Navy 'heard' what is now thought to be the implosion of the Titan submarine days ago, it's been said.
For the past few days, the world has been watching to see if the missing five passengers on board OceanGate's tiny vessel would be brought to safety.
A huge search and rescue operation was immediately launched to track the sub down when it disappeared on Sunday (18 June).
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The vessel was less than a couple of hours into its journey down beneath the Atlantic Ocean to explore the wreckage of the Titanic, which infamously sunk in 1912 after hitting an iceberg.
At the time, those involved in the trip weren't sure whether there had been a malfunction with the communications system or something more sinister.
But a U.S. defense official has now come out and said that the Navy most likely heard the implosion/explosion of Titan when it occurred.
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Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, the unnamed official explained that the Navy began listening out for the sub as soon as it lost communications.
And not long after it vanished, their systems detected what it believes was the implosion close to where the debris site was discovered yesterday (22 June).
“The U.S. Navy conducted an analysis of acoustic data and detected an anomaly consistent with an implosion or explosion in the general vicinity of where the Titan submersible was operating when communications were lost,” the senior U.S. Navy official said in a statement.
“While not definitive, this information was immediately shared with the Incident Commander to assist with the ongoing search and rescue mission.”
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UNILAD has reached out to the Department of Defense for comment.
The revelation comes just hours after the tragic news was announced that those on board Titan had most likely died.
In a statement addressing the suspected fate of the passengers, OceanGate said: "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.
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"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.
"This is an extremely sad time for our dedicated employees who are exhausted and grieving deeply over this loss."
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Rear Admiral John Mauger, of the U.S. Coast Guard, added: "This is an incredibly unforgiving environment down there on the sea floor and the debris is consistent with a catastrophic implosion of the vessel.
"We will continue to work and we will continue to search down there but I don't have an answer for prospects at this time..."