OceanGate, Inc.

Human remains have likely been recovered from the wreckage of the submersible that imploded during an underwater voyage to view the Titanic, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.

Canadian authorities said Friday they would launch an investigation into the loss this week of the Titan submersible along with five people onboard during a dive to the Titanic wreck.

The Canadian-flagged Polar Prince cargo vessel towed the Titan out to sea last weekend but lost contact with it about an hour and 45 minutes after the submersible launched into the ocean depths.

The search for a missing Titanic-bound submersible has become an investigation and salvage mission that will take an indefinite amount of time, officials said, as tributes from around the world poured in for the five people killed when the vessel imploded deep in the North Atlantic.

Rescue teams raced against time on June 20 in their search for a tourist submersible that went missing near the wreck of the Titanic with five people on board.

One of the passengers on board has been identified as British businessman Hamish Harding, whose aviation firm had posted on social media about his expedition.

The US Coast Guard said late Monday that its search for a missing submersible vessel near the Titanic wreck had been completed for the day, but that a national guard unit and the company operating the five-passenger underwater mission would continue scouring the surface overnight.

OceanGate Expeditions has been sending crews in a submersible to document the condition of Titanic since last year