OceanGate confirms 5 dead after Titan debris found at bottom of ocean

The United States Coast Guard has confirmed that a debris field found at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean is from the missing Titan submersible vehicle. All five passengers who were on the vessel are dead.

"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 Thursday.

"These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world’s oceans. 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."

See OceanGate's full statement below.

The Coast Guard said that the debris indicates a "catastrophic implosion of the vessel." The wreckage was found by a remote vehicle sent by a Canadian ship involved in the search. More remote vessels will continue to search the scene, but search crews will be leaving the area.

OceanGate is based in Everett, Washington. Its CEO, Stockton Rush, is a Seattle resident. Its work to develop submersible vehicles took place around Puget Sound over the past decade, before offering underwater trips to see the sunken Titanic in the Atlantic Ocean.

Debris from the submersible were found about 1,600 feet from the Titanic, where the vessel was en route to before going missing earlier this week.

Full statement from OceanGate:

"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.

These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world’s oceans. 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.

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 organizations 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."