DEEP SORROW

Wreckage discovered at 12,500ft | Submarine blown apart by implosion | Questions over safety of the vessel 

- CHRISTOPHER BUCKTIN

THE search for the submarine missing in the Atlantic since Sunday ended in sorrow yesterday when five parts of the vessel were found 1,600ft from the Titanic's wreckage.

Debris from the Titan sub was spotted at 5am by a remotely operated vehicle 12,500ft beneath the sea.

The five people on board are the latest to fall victim to the Titanic's curse, 111 years after more than 1,500 passengers and crew perished when the liner sank on its maiden voyage.

The implosion of the Titan submersible, owned by US firm OceanGate, would have killed the five men on board instantly, a fate described by a friend of two of the tourists as a "saving grace".

News that the debris had been found came as the relatives of the British billionaire on board hit out at the sub's operators over the eight-hour delay in sending out an SOS.

Confirming the submersible had imploded, Rear Admiral John Mauger of the US Coast Guard, who led the search for Titan, said: "The debris is consistent with a catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber. Upon this determination, we immediately notified the families.

"I can only imagine what this has been like for them, and I hope that this discovery provides some solace during this difficult time." 

Pelagic Research Services confirmed it was their ROV Odysseus - transported to the scene on the Horizon Arctic which had found the debris field.

It had discovered the tail cone of the Titan first and then other debris nearby.

At 12,500ft, the pressure would be about 375 atmospheres, and the five men would have felt nothing, killed instantly as they were subjected to the equivalent of 5,500lb of force.

Three of those on board - billionaire Hamish Harding, 58, businessman Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his son, Suleman, 19 were British.

The other two were French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet and Stockton Rush, CEO of OceanGate, who owned the sub.