All missing Titanic sub passengers declared dead

OceanGate, the owner of the Titan submersible, said Thursday that all passengers of the Titanic-bound submersible have “sadly been lost,” CNN reported on Thursday. 

"We grieve the loss of life," CNN reported OceanGate as saying.

"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," OceanGate said in a statement.

These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world’s oceans, it added. "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 further added that: "This is an extremely sad time for our dedicated employees who are exhausted and grieving deeply over this loss. 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.

We respectfully ask that the privacy of these families be respected during this most painful time."

Addressing a news conference on Thursday, the official of the US Coast Guard said search crews discovered "five different major pieces of debris" identified from the Titan submersible. 

He said the nose cone, located outside the pressure hull, was the first piece found. Then, they found "a large debris field," which had an end bell of the pressure hull.

The 21-foot (6.5-meter) Titan began its descent at 8:00 am on Sunday and had been due to resurface seven hours later.

But the craft lost communication with its mothership less than two hours into its trip to see the Titanic.

It was carrying British billionaire Hamish Harding and dual Pakistani-British citizens Shahzada Dawood, a tycoon, and his son Suleman. 

OceanGate Expeditions charges $250,000 for a seat on the sub.

Also on board is OceanGate´s CEO, Stockton Rush, and a French submarine operator Paul-Henri Nargeolet, nicknamed "Mr Titanic" for his frequent dives at the site.

Ships and planes have scoured 10,000 square miles (around 20,000 square kilometers) of surface water — roughly the size of the US state of Massachusetts — for the vessel.

The Titanic´s watery grave is situated 400 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, and more than two miles below the surface of the North Atlantic.