Debris discovered near Titanic site amid search for missing crew

By Edward Era Barbacena 

“Experts within the unified command are evaluating the information,” the Coast Guard added.

Coast Guard officials will discuss the findings from the Horizon Arctic’s ROV on the sea floor near the Titanic at a 3 p.m. press briefing, officials said in a release

The update coincides with the search’s ramped-up use of ROVs — even as the “breathable air” inside the missing sub likely ran out, by officials’ estimations, at around 7:08 a.m.Thursday morning.

OceanGate Expeditions told the Coast Guard late Sunday that the Titan was equipped with only 96 hours of oxygen after it submerged off the coast of Newfoundland earlier that day.

Less than two hours after the sub reportedly ran out of oxygen, the US Coast Guard announced that a remote-operated vehicle had reached the ocean floor as the frantic search escalated.

“The Canadian vessel Horizon Arctic has deployed an ROV that has reached the sea floor and began its search for the missing sub,” the agency said. The Coast Guard also said that L’Atalante would soon deploy its ROV

The sub was expected to travel 370 miles out into the Atlantic, where the wreck of the Titanic rests about 12,500 feet below the surface.

Five passengers are onboard the Titan, including billionaire explorer Hamish Harding, French Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet, OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, and Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son, Sulaiman.

Their status remains unknown as US and Canadian officials work around the clock to try and locate the missing vessel.

US Coast Guard Rear Adm. John Mauger said search-and-rescue efforts would continue in full force despite the oxygen depletion.

Similarly, experienced diver Butch Hendrick told The Post the rescue mission will likely not become a recovery effort until at least 24 hours after the estimated oxygen reserve inside the Titan expires — meaning authorities will work under the assumption that the victims are still alive.