The Coast Guard has scheduled a news briefing for Thursday following reports of a discovery in the ongoing saga of the missing OceanGate Expeditions submersible, which has captivated the attention of the entire nation.
Since Sunday, the Titan submersible has been missing in the North Atlantic, and the Coast Guard has released new information from a remotely operated vehicle.
The Coast Guard tweeted Thursday that a “debris field was discovered within the search area by an ROV near the Titanic.”
It said experts were “evaluating the information.”
A debris field was discovered within the search area by an ROV near the Titanic. Experts within the unified command are evaluating the information. 1/2
— USCGNortheast (@USCGNortheast) June 22, 2023
A subsequent tweet announced the press conference in Boston at 3 p.m.:
2/2 Information for the next press briefing can be found here: https://t.co/WyQ3pWZfiM
— USCGNortheast (@USCGNortheast) June 22, 2023
According to the release, Rear Adm. John Mauger, commander of the First Coast Guard District, and Capt. Jamie Frederick, response coordinator of the First Coast Guard District, will address at the briefing.
The ROV in issue was deployed by the Canadian vessel Horizon Arctic early on Thursday morning.
“The Canadian vessel Horizon Arctic has deployed an ROV that has reached the sea floor and began its search for the missing sub,” the Coast Guard tweeted.
Search operations for June 22.
— USCGNortheast (@USCGNortheast) June 22, 2023
A separate ROV was also deployed by L’Atalante, a French vessel, the Coast Guard said.
The French vessel L'Atalante is preparing their ROV to enter the water. #titanic
— USCGNortheast (@USCGNortheast) June 22, 2023
The Coast Guard only mentioned the findings of the Horizon Arctic in its press release.
The Titan submersible was last heard from at the conclusion of a two-hour dive to the Titanic wreckage site on Sunday, two hours after its initial descent.
According to reports, the submersible entered the water with an estimated 96 hours of oxygen for its five occupants, meaning the group would have likely run out of air by Thursday morning.
Canadian P-3 aircraft detected underwater noises in the search area. As a result, ROV operations were relocated in an attempt to explore the origin of the noises. Those ROV searches have yielded negative results but continue. 1/2
— USCGNortheast (@USCGNortheast) June 21, 2023
Wednesday morning, reports of “underwater noises” were detected by the Coast Guard, prompting some to speculate that the crew was attempting to make contact with the outside world.