Titanic submersible destroyed by a 'catastrophic implosion'

A deep-sea submersible carrying five people on a voyage to the century-old wreck of the Titanic was found in pieces from a "catastrophic implosion" that killed everyone aboard, the US Coast Guard said on Thursday, ending a multinational five-day search for the vessel.

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A robotic diving vehicle deployed from a Canadian ship discovered a debris field from the submersible Titan on Thursday morning on the seabed some 1,600 feet from the bow of the Titanic, 4 km beneath the surface, in a remote corner of the North Atlantic, US coast guard rear admiral John Mauger told reporters.

The Titan, operated by the US-based company OceanGate Expeditions, had been missing since it lost contact with its surface support ship on Sunday morning about an hour, 45 minutes into what should have been a two-hour dive to the world's most famous shipwreck.

Five major fragments of the 22-foot Titan were located in the debris field left from its disintegration, including the vessel's tail cone and two sections of the pressure hull, coast guard officials said.

"The debris field here is consistent with a catastrophic implosion of the vehicle," Mauger said.