‘Landing frame and rear cover’ found at debris field in hunt for missing sub

Published

2 years ago

June 22, 2023

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A “debris field” has been discovered in the search for Titan – with a rescue expert telling Sky News that the missing sub’s landing frame and rear cover have been found.

A remotely operated underwater vehicle on the sea floor made the breakthrough – and the US Coast Guard is evaluating the information ahead of a news conference at 8pm UK time tonight.

David Mearns, a rescue expert who knows two of the five men onboard, has received a WhatsApp message suggesting two crucial parts of the system have been detected – but the hull is yet to be found.

Coast Guard to make statement – follow live updates

Mr Mearns told Sky News: “They don’t use phrases like ‘debris field’ unless there’s no chance of a recovery of the men alive.

“A debris field implies a break-up of the submersible … that really sort of indicates what is the worst-case scenario, which is a catastrophic failure and generally that’s an implosion.

“The only saving grace is that it would have been immediate – literally in milliseconds – and the men wouldn’t have known what was happening.”

Mr Mearns knew British billionaire Hamish Harding and the French submersible pilot Paul-Henri Nargeolet, who were on the voyage.

In an emotive interview, he said his “worst fears have now been realised” – and he had been praying for a different outcome.

“Two friends of mine are gone,” Mr Mearns said.

Officials are yet to confirm whether the debris is linked to the missing submersible – but nonetheless, it is a potential breakthrough in an increasingly urgent, round-the-clock rescue effort.

The ROV, which is equipped with cameras and sonar, had successfully managed to reach the sea floor.

Admiral Sir James Burnell-Nugent, former Commander-in-Chief Fleet of the Royal Navy, told Sky News that “the nature of the announcement suggests this debris is in some way connected with the Titan”.

He explained: “There is of course a large debris field around the Titanic – and the various things we’ve seen retrieved from the Titanic have come from the debris field. It covers several hectares.

“But I think if this was Titanic debris, the Coast Guard would have made a distinction in the announcement. I think on balance this is probably grim news and suggests the Titan might have imploded under the immense pressure of the seawater while it was on its way down.”

Titan had disappeared on Sunday in the Atlantic Ocean – 435 miles south of Newfoundland, Canada – during an expedition dive to see the wreck of the Titanic.

Also on Thursday, a deep-sea robot called Victor 6000 headed to the search area. It has remotely controlled arms that can cut cables and perform other manoeuvres to release a stuck vessel, and is able to go deeper than the Titanic itself.

Five men are on board – and alongside Mr Harding and Mr Nargeolet are the British businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, alongside OceanGate’s US-based chief executive and founder Stockton Rush.

The US Coast Guard had predicted that the air supply in the vessel would run out at 12.08pm UK time on Thursday.

Ships, planes and underwater craft from multiple countries were deployed to the area with rescuers searching a remote part of the Atlantic Ocean more than twice the size of the US state of Connecticut in waters as deep as 4,020m (13,200ft).

World

Israel’s PM tries to get on front foot in propaganda war he knows he is losing

Published

1 hour ago

August 11, 2025

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Israel's PM tries to get on front foot in propaganda war he knows he is losing

Israel’s prime minister added more detail to his deeply controversial plans for military escalation in Gaza at a news conference with foreign media yesterday – despite the condemnation of the UN Security Council, which met in an emergency session and urged him to rethink.

Benjamin Netanyahu spoke of a “fairly short timetable” to establish designated “safe zones” for the one million or so set to be displaced from Gaza City.

He also vowed to seize and dismantle Hamas’s final strongholds there – in the central refugee camps, and in al Mawasi, along Gaza’s southwestern coast.

This, per Netanyahu, is the only way to destroy the terror group, which he claimed “subjugates Gazans, steals their food and shoots them when they try to move to safety”.

Al Mawasi is already home to a significant displaced population, most of whom live in tents cramped up against the Mediterranean Sea, in what is already a designated humanitarian zone.

If members of Hamas live among them, rooting them out will be hugely complicated and will involve significant civilian casualties. If the residents of Gaza City can’t evacuate south to al Mawasi, where will they go?

Netanyahu’s plan is to set up more aid distribution sites through the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) and to flood Gaza with food.

He claimed his policy was not one of forced starvation – describing particular photos of starving babies as “fake news”, and accusing the media of painting a false picture.

“The only ones who are being deliberately starved in Gaza are our hostages,” the prime minister claimed.

I asked Netanyahu how he would go about preventing the kinds of daily killings taking place at aid distribution points in the months since GHF has been operating.

Doctors Without Borders has described these incidents as deliberately orchestrated.

The prime minister said increasing the amount of aid heading into the Strip was the answer.

“And by the way, a lot of the firing was done by Hamas seeking to have a response by our forces,” he added. “And very often they didn’t, they held back. They stayed their own fire even though their own lives were on the line.”

This was Israel’s prime minister trying to get on the front foot in a propaganda war he acknowledged he was losing. He was loath to admit the presence of famine in Gaza.

It took two questions before he acknowledged there was “deprivation”, even if he would not be drawn on whether his 11-week total blockade of the strip earlier this year had played any role.

He recognises that the appalled response of the international community to the human cost of this war, and the accusations of war crimes and genocide which Israel so vehemently rejects, are a terrible look.

This was his attempt to reclaim the narrative.

World

Defiant Netanyahu sets out plan for military escalation in Gaza – and describes photographs of starving babies as ‘fake news’

Published

8 hours ago

August 10, 2025