Missing Titanic submersible live updates: Texts show OceanGate CEO dismissed concerns
Five people, including the company CEO, were aboard the sub when it imploded.
All passengers are believed to be lost after a desperate dayslong search for a submersible carrying five people that vanished while on a tour of the Titanic wreckage off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.
The 21-foot deep-sea vessel, operated by OceanGate Expeditions, lost contact about an hour and 45 minutes after submerging on Sunday morning with a 96-hour oxygen supply. That amount of breathable air was forecast to run out on Thursday morning, according to the United States Coast Guard, which was coordinating the multinational search and rescue efforts.
Latest headlines:
- RCMP to investigate the deaths aboard Titan sub
- US taxpayer cost for search and rescue may be $1.5 million, expert says
- OceanGate CEO claimed sub was safer than scuba diving, texts show
- OceanGate co-founder defends development of submersible
- Sub's carbon-fiber composite hull was the 'critical failure,' James Cameron says
- Probe seeks answers on why Titanic sub imploded
- Navy likely detected sound of the implosion on Sunday: Official
- All lives believed to be lost: OceanGate
Canadian assets on scene for assistance
A Royal Canadian Navy ship HMCS Glace Bay has been on scene since about 8 a.m. ET Thursday morning. The ship provides a medical team specializing in dive medicine and a six-person mobile hyperbaric recompression chamber, according to officials.
Canadian Coast Guard ships John Cabot, Ann Harvey and Terry Fox are on scene and ready to provide rescue equipment and personnel should assistance be required. A Royal Canadian Air Force CP-140 Aurora aircraft is also maintaining continuous on-scene support with additional aircrews and assets, according to officials.
-ABC News' Luke Barr
'Debris field' discovered within search area, US Coast Guard says
The U.S. Coast Guard announced via Twitter late Thursday morning that "a debris field was discovered within the search area by" a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) "near the Titanic" wreckage.
"Experts within the unified command are evaluating the information," the U.S. Coast Guard tweeted.
The Coast Guard is set to hold a briefing on the findings from the Horizon Arctic's ROV at 3 p.m. ET.
Crew members could survive for 'hours' after airtank depleted, doctor says
Despite their onboard oxygen tank expected to be depleted sometime Thursday morning, one doctor says they may have more time if the passengers are still alive. He estimates the five people aboard the lost Titanic tourist sub could survive for 10 to 20 hours with air still circulating through the experimental capsule.
Dr. Richard Moon, a professor of anesthesiology at Duke University, said that despite conditions being dire, those aboard the OceanGate Expedition's submersible could extend the oxygen available after its tank is depleted by staying calm and moving as little as possible.
"The actual amount of time that they have is unpredictable, but it's probably less than 24 hours after the final oxygen in the tank is depleted," Moon, director of the Duke Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Environmental Physiology, told ABC News.
Read more here.
-ABC News' Bill Hutchinson
French ROV enters water in search area
The U.S. Coast Guard announced via Twitter on Thursday morning that a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) deployed by the French vessel L'Atalante has entered the water in the search area.
The U.S. Coast Guard also gave an update on the conditions at sea, saying winds were at 14 mph with gusts up to 19 mph, swells were 4 to 5 feet and the air temperature was 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
Company behind Titan overstated details of partnerships with Boeing, others
The company behind the submersible that imploded exaggerated the details of the industry partnerships behind the development and engineering of the underwater vessel.
In some public statements, OceanGate suggested the Titan -- its only vessel able to reach Titanic depths -- was designed and engineered with the assistance of entities such as Boeing, the University of Washington and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. In statements to ABC News, each entity described its role, or lack thereof, as more limited than sometimes stated by OceanGate.
When asked about these exaggerations about the role of partnerships in the development of the Titan submersible, an OceanGate representative declined to comment on the matter.
Read more here.
-ABC News' Peter Charalambous