This morning, an ROV or remote operated vehicle from the Vessel Horizon Arctic discovered

the tail cone of the Titan submersible approximately 1,600 feet from the bow of the Titanic on the

sea floor. The ROV subsequently found additional debris in consultation with experts from within

the unified command. The debris is consistent with the catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber.

Upon this determination, we immediately notified the families. On behalf of the United States Coast Guard and the entire unified command, I offer my deepest condolences to the families.

On Thursday afternoon, the US Coast Guard gave a tragic update on the missing submersible.

Yes, so we learned Thursday afternoon that pressure was lost in the Titan and all five people on board are presumed to be dead. They were on the way to the Titanic wreckage in the North Atlantic.

This is my colleague Ben Brasch. He's been reporting on this for the post.

Yes, so this was a previously unknown world to me and I think to a lot of people when they heard that there was a submersible going down to the wreckage of the Titanic. People thought it was only James Cameron and scientists were doing that.

But Oceangate, this company was bringing tourists down there at $250,000 a person to see the ocean floor and to see what has become of the unsinkable Titanic.

And Ben has learned that there are surprisingly few rules for companies who take tourists to the depths of the ocean.

Yes, there really aren't as many rules down there as you think there are. I spoke with one expert and he called it the Lawless Ocean. When you're 12 miles off the coast, you're international waters. There's no one there to police what's going on. There are essentially no rules.

From the newsroom of the Washington Post, this is Post Reports. I'm Ella Hezaddi. It's Thursday, June 22. Today, Ben and I dig into the Wild West of Deep Sea Tourism.

And how this sort of travel could be forever changed by this tragedy. Ben also shares what he learned about Oceangate, the company that launched this doomed voyage.

Ben, can you just for us right now go over some of the basics of what we've discovered by now? What was this vessel exactly when did it start its journey and who was on board?

Yes, so those on board include the CEO of Oceangate and then two long time adventures, one of whom was nicknamed Mr. Titanic and then a businessman and his 19 year old son.

The vessel lost contact Sunday with its mother ship about 900 miles off the coast from Cape Cod.

This is roughly like the size of a minivan, basically the submersible. It's cramped in there and there's not a lot of light.

Heading down there to see the wreckage of the Titanic. Ultimately, the Titan, the vessel therein was discovered about 1,600 feet from the bow of the Titanic on the seafloor.

You know, Ben, over the last several days ever since this story and this situation has come to light, it's really gripped the world's attention.

And I don't know about you, but I was actually quite surprised to learn that there was such a thing as deep sea tourism and you have been reporting on this company that operated this vessel. What have you learned about the company?

Yeah, this is a world not a lot of people know about. So what this company does since 2009, Oceangate has been working to explore the deep seas and show people the previously unknown parts of our ocean.

...