The cost of the unprecedented search for the missing Titan submersible will easily stretch into the millions of dollars, experts said Friday.The massive international effort by aircraft, surface ships and deep-sea robots began Sunday when the Titan was reported missing. Searchers raced against a 96-hour clock in the desperate hope to find and rescue the vessel's occupants before their oxygen supply ran out.But all hope was extinguished Thursday when officials announced the submersible had suffered a catastrophic implosion, killing all five aboard.A scaled-back search remained in place Friday as the robots — remotely operated vehicles, known as ROVs — continued to scan the sea floor for evidence that might shed light on what occurred in the deep waters of the North Atlantic.The search area spanned thousands of miles — twice the size of Connecticut and in waters 2 1/2 miles deep — with agencies such as the U.S. Coast Guard, the Canadian Coast Guard, U.S. Navy and other agencies and private entities.Video below: Former Navy submersible pilot on what could cause cause 'catastrophic implosion'There’s no other comparable ocean search, especially with so many countries and even commercial enterprises being involved in recent times, said Norman Polmar, a naval historian, analyst and author based in Virginia.The aircraft, alone, are expensive to operate, and the Government Accountability Office has put the hourly cost at tens of thousands of dollars. Turboprop P-3 Orion and jet-powered P-8 Poseidon sub hunters, along with C-130 Hercules, were all utilized in the search.Some agencies can seek reimbursements. But the U.S. Coast Guard — whose bill alone will hit the millions of dollars — is generally prohibited by federal law from collecting reimbursement pertaining to any search or rescue service, said Stephen Koerting, an attorney in Maine who specializes in maritime law.“The Coast Guard, as a matter of both law and policy, does not seek to recover the costs associated with search and rescue from the recipients of those services,” the Coast Guard said Friday in a statement.Video below: Friends of lost crew react after debris from sub identifiedThe first priority in search and rescue is always saving a life, and search and rescue agencies budget for such expenses, said Mikki Hastings, president and CEO of the National Association for Search and Rescue.“In the end, these people were in distress. We know what the ultimate result was. But during the search operation, there are people who are in distress,” she said of the Titan submersible.Rescue agencies don’t want people in distress to be thinking about the cost of a helicopter or other resources when a life is in danger.“Every person who is missing – they deserve to be found. That’s the mission regardless of who they are,” she said.

Authorities turned their focus to determining why a submersible carrying people to the wreck of the Titanic imploded deep in the North Atlantic, as tributes poured in for the five aboard who were killed.The announcement that no one survived Thursday brought a tragic end to a five-day saga that included an urgent around-the-clock search for the vessel known as the Titan.The investigation into what happened was already underway and would continue in the area around Titanic where debris from the submersible was found, said Rear Adm. John Mauger, of the First Coast Guard District.“I know there are also a lot of questions about how, why and when did this happen. Those are questions we will collect as much information as we can about now,” Mauger said, adding that it was a “complex case” that happened in a remote part of the ocean and involved people from several different countries.The first hint of a timeline came Thursday evening when a senior U.S. Navy official said that after the Titan was reported missing Sunday, the Navy went back and analyzed its acoustic data and found an “anomaly” that was consistent with an implosion or explosion in the general vicinity of where the vessel was operating when communications were lost. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive acoustic detection system.Those killed were Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate Expeditions, the company that owned and operated the submersible; two members of a prominent Pakistani family, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood; British adventurer Hamish Harding; and Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet.Video below: Friends of lost crew react after debris from sub identifiedThe Titan launched at 6 a.m. Sunday, and was reported overdue Sunday afternoon about 435 miles south of St. John’s, Newfoundland. Rescuers rushed ships, planes and other equipment to the site of the disappearance.Any sliver of hope that remained for finding the crew alive was wiped away early Thursday, when the submersible’s 96-hour supply of air was expected to run out and the Coast Guard announced that debris had been found roughly 1,600 feet from the Titanic.“The debris is consistent with the catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber,” Mauger said.The Coast Guard said Thursday that the sounds detected during the search — that had given rescuers some hope that maybe the people were alive — were likely generated by something other than the Titan.The Navy official who spoke of the “anomaly” heard Sunday said the Navy passed on the information to the Coast Guard, which continued its search because the data was not considered definitive.Tributes to and praise for the searchers who tried to save them poured in from across the globe.Harding’s family said in a statement: ”He was one of a kind and we adored him... What he achieved in his lifetime was truly remarkable and if we can take any small consolation from this tragedy, it’s that we lost him doing what he loved.”Video below: Former Navy submersible pilot on what could cause cause 'catastrophic implosion'In a statement beginning with a Quranic verse, the Dawood family thanked rescuers: “Their untiring efforts were a source of strength for us during this time, We are also indebted to our friends, family, colleagues and well-wishers from all over the world who stood by us during our need.”A longtime friend and colleague of Nargeolet told French media that when contact was lost Sunday, he quickly feared the worst.“Unfortunately, I thought straight away of an implosion,” diver and retired underwater filmographer Christian Pétron said Friday to broadcaster France-Info. At the depths in which the submersible was operating, the pressure is intense and unforgiving, he noted.“Obviously, the slightest problem with the hull and its implosion is immediate,” Pétron said.Video below: Debris field identified as pieces of missing of Titanic subDirector James Cameron, who has made multiple dives to the wreckage of the Titanic, told the BBC that he knew an “extreme catastrophic event” had happened as soon as he heard the submersible had lost navigation and communications at the same time.“For me, there was no doubt," Cameron said. "There was no search. When they finally got an ROV (remotely operated vehicle) down there that could make the depth, they found it within hours. Probably within minutes.”He said briefings about 96 hours of oxygen supply and banging noises were a “prolonged and nightmarish charade” that gave the crew members’ families false hope.At least 46 people successfully traveled on OceanGate’s submersible to the Titanic wreck site in 2021 and 2022, according to letters the company filed with a U.S. District Court in Norfolk, Virginia, that oversees matters involving the Titanic shipwreck. But questions about the submersible's safety were raised by both by a former company employee and former passengers.David Lochridge, OceanGate’s former director of marine operations, argued in 2018 that the method the company devised for ensuring the soundness of the hull — relying on acoustic monitoring that could detect cracks and pops as the hull strained under pressure — was inadequate and could “subject passengers to potential extreme danger in an experimental submersible.”OceanGate disagreed. Lochridge “is not an engineer and was not hired or asked to perform engineering services on the Titan,” it said, and it noted he was fired after refusing to accept assurances from the company's lead engineer that the acoustic monitoring and testing protocol was, in fact, better suited to detect flaws than a method Lochridge proposed.One of the company’s first customers likened a dive he made to the site two years ago to a suicide mission.“Imagine a metal tube a few meters long with a sheet of metal for a floor. You can’t stand. You can’t kneel. Everyone is sitting close to or on top of each other,” said Arthur Loibl, a retired businessman and adventurer from Germany. “You can’t be claustrophobic.”___Associated Press writers Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Ben Finley in Norfolk, Virginia; Holly Ramer in Concord, New Hampshire; Lolita C. Baldor in Washington; Frank Jordans in Berlin; Danica Kirka in London; Gene Johnson in Seattle; Munir Ahmed in Islamabad; and John Leicester in Paris contributed to this report.