The US Coast Guard said in a press conference on Thursday that they don't know if the bodies of the passengers on the missing Titan submersible can be recovered.
The US Coast Guard told the media on Thursday that the Titan submersible had likely imploded. When asked about the prospects of recovering the bodies of those aboard the Titan, Mauger said there is an "incredibly unforgiving environment down there on the sea floor."
"And so we will continue to work, and continue to search the area down there, but I don't have an answer for prospects at this time," he added.
The Titan submersible lost contact with its mother ship during a dive to the Titanic shipwreck on Sunday. Five passengers, including the submersible's maker Stockton Rush, were on board the vessel.
The rescue efforts to locate the missing submersible involved teams from the US Coast Guard, US Navy, Canadian Coast Guard, and OceanGate Expeditions.
A representative for the US Coast Guard did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider sent outside regular business hours.
