The extensive search effort that was launched in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean has new priorities now that it is known that all of the crew members aboard the submersible that went missing during a dive to the Titanic nearly a week ago have passed away.
Following what was likely a "catastrophic implosion" of the OceanGate Titan sub, the US Coast Guard confirmed on Thursday afternoon that all five men aboard had died.
However, there are still a lot of unanswered questions about what actually transpired, and moving forward, efforts will be directed toward finding solutions.
The US Coast Guard's ability to find the victims' bodies, according to Rear Adm Mauger, is something he was unable to confirm.
He declared, "This is a very forgiving environment.
The wealthy British businessmen Hamish Harding and Shahzada Dawood were on board, and their son Suleman traveled with them to Titan.
Along with former French navy diver Paul-Henry Nargeolet, the crew also included OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush.
More details about their lives are available here.
Since there is no established protocol for incidents involving submersibles, it is currently unknown which agency will oversee the investigation.
Because the incident occurred in a remote area of the ocean and involved people of various nationalities, Rear Adm Mauger said it was especially complicated.
The US Coast Guard is likely to continue to play a significant part in the operation, having taken the lead in it thus far.
A number of vessels, medical staff, and technicians are still on the scene, and it was stated that further investigation into the debris field would be conducted. Within the next 24 hours, teams will begin to be demobilized.
Additionally, for the time being, the remote-operated underwater vehicles (ROVs) that are currently circling the Titanic will remain.
Rear Adm Mauger said, "I don't have a timeline for when we would intend to stop remote operations on the seafloor at this point.
The authorities will need as much of the debris as they can get their hands on, including pieces of the carbon fiber that part of the vessel was made of, in order to piece together what happened.
The area where the Titan's remnants were discovered is still being mapped.
The search had turned up five significant pieces of debris, according to undersea expert Paul Hankin, proving it was the missing submarine.
The pressure hull's front and rear end bells, as well as the nose cone, are among the components.
According to Rear Adm. Mauger, the governments of the nations involved in the incident have been meeting to discuss potential avenues for an investigation.
The goal of any investigation will be to determine whether the theory that Titan's passengers died as a result of an implosion is true and, if so, when and why it occurred.
The admiral further stated that although this fell outside of his purview, a future review would likely concentrate on more general issues pertaining to standards and regulations for such underwater missions.
Hydrophones, which are underwater microphones used to listen for unauthorized atomic weapons tests, could be another potential source of information about Titan's precise fate.
These assisted in proving the implosion of the Argentinian submarine San Juan, which went missing off the nation's coast in 2017.
The Oceangate Titan's end may have been picked up by hydrophones, which could pinpoint the exact moment the tragedy took place.
Shortly after OceanGate's Titan submersible lost contact, the US Navy, according to a navy official, heard sounds "consistent with an implosion.".
More information about how an investigation might uncover the sub's whereabouts can be found here.
