The five crew members on board the missing submersible Titan died in a “catastrophic implosion”, the US Coast Guard has confirmed.

Rear Admiral John Mauger, the First Coast Guard District commander, said a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) had located five major pieces of debris from the Titan on the seabed about 1,600 feet away from the Titanic on Thursday morning.

The debris was analysed and confirmed to belong to the Titan, and family members were informed there had been no survivors, he added.

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

An OceanGate spokesperson confirmed the five crew members “have sadly been lost” in a statement to The Independent.

“These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world’s oceans.

“Our hearts are with these five souls and every member of their families during this tragic time.”

The Titan submersible vanished 105 minutes after launching from the Polar Prince icebreaker research ship about 900 miles off the coast of Cape Cod on Sunday morning.

Slim hopes of finding survivors fell when the US Coast Guard revealed on Thursday morning that a debris field had been found near the Titanic shipwreck by a a remote operated vehicle (ROV) searching for the missing Titan submersible.

A sweeping search effort involving Canadian Boeing P-8 Poseidon and C-130 Hercules reconnaissance aircraft, 10 vessels and underwater sonar buoys had been combing an area of the North Atlantic Ocean twice the size of Connecticut for the past several days.

The search teams had been racing to find the Titan before a 96-hour deadline passed on Thursday morning when the vessel’s oxygen reserves were expected to extinguish.

An OceanGate spokesperson told The Independent: “This is an extremely sad time for our dedicated employees who are exhausted and grieving deeply over this loss.

“The entire OceanGate family is deeply grateful for the countless men and women from multiple organizations of the international community who expedited wide-ranging resources and have worked so very hard on this mission.

“We appreciate their commitment to finding these five explorers, and their days and nights of tireless work in support of our crew and their families.

“This is a very sad time for the entire explorer community, and for each of the family members of those lost at sea. We respectfully ask that the privacy of these families be respected during this most painful time

Trevor Hale, a spokesman for The Explorers Club, told The Independent that debris discovered on Thursday contained components of the Titan lost on a previous dive.

“We understand debris has been found which may be the landing frame and a rear cover of the tail instrument compartment of the Titan lost on previous dives.

“We hear there may be additional debris but no updated visuals of the submersible.”

Two of the missing crew members, Mr Harding and Mr Nargeolet, are members of The Explorer’s Club.

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