"Titanic" director James Cameron, who has explored the wreckage site himself, called the implosion "quite surreal" and noted that one of the passengers killed, Paul-Henri Nargeolet, was a friend of his.

"For him to have died tragically in this way is almost impossible for me to process," Cameron told ABC News Thursday.

Coast Guard officials said a remote-operated vehicle found the tail cone of the Titan submersible about 1,600 feet from the bow of the Titanic Thursday morning.

Additional debris found was "consistent with the catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber," Rear Adm. John Mauger, the First Coast Guard District commander, said during a press briefing.

The passengers' families were immediately notified.

Five major pieces of debris were found, including the nose cone, officials said.

The debris indicates there was a "catastrophic implosion" of the vessel, Mauger said.

It's too early to tell when the implosion occurred, officials said.

"This is an incredibly unforgiving environment down there on the seafloor," Mauger said.

All five aboard the missing submersible are believed to be lost amid a search for the vessel, 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," 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," the statement continued. "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."

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

Magellan, an international exploration company that digitally mapped the Titanic wreckage last year, said Wednesday that it is "ready to support" the search for the missing submersible and is "fully mobilized to help."

The U.K.-based company told ABC News that it was contacted by the submersible’s operator, OceanGate Expeditions, early Monday and "immediately offered our knowledge of the specific site and also our expertise operating at depth considerably in advance of what is required for this incident."

"We have been working full-time with U.K. and U.S. agencies to secure the necessary air support to move our specialist equipment and support crew," Magellan said in a statement.

When asked for comment about media reports that U.S. authorities have failed to give Magellan the necessary permits to participate in the search, the company told ABC News it "does not not wish to comment on any specific media report."

-ABC News' Emma Ogao