The US Coast Guard has announced the discovery of a “debris field” near the sunken wreck of the Titanic. The debris could provide clues as to the fate of a deep-sea submersible that vanished near the wreck on Sunday.
“A debris field was discovered within the search area by [a Remotely Operated Vehicle] near the Titanic,” the Coast Guard’s northeastern district said in a statement on Thursday. The military branch said that the information was currently being evaluated, and that a press conference would be held later on Thursday afternoon.
The existence of debris suggests that the submersible suffered a catastrophic failure and imploded more than three kilometers below the Atlantic Ocean. If the sub did not implode, its five-man crew ran out of oxygen three hours before the Coast Guard’s announcement, according to estimates from the service on Wednesday.