“I am grateful for the coordinated international and inter-agency support to recover and preserve this vital evidence at extreme offshore distances and depths,” US Coast Guard Chief Captain Jason Neubauer said in a statement.
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‘Presumed human remains’ found in wreckage of Titanic tour sub
‘Presumed human remains’ found in wreckage of Titanic tour sub
“The evidence will provide investigators from several international jurisdictions with critical insights into the cause of this tragedy. There is still a substantial amount of work to be done to understand the factors that led to the catastrophic loss of the Titan and help ensure a similar tragedy does not occur again.”
The debris was brought to land by Canadian ship Horizon Arctic, which carried a remotely operated vehicle, or ROV, to search the ocean floor near the Titanic wreck for pieces of the submersible. Pelagic Research Services, a company with offices in Massachusetts and New York that owns the ROV, said on Wednesday that it has completed offshore operations.
Pelagic Research Services’ team is “still on mission” and cannot comment on the ongoing Titan investigation, which involves several government agencies in the US and Canada, said Jeff Mahoney, a spokesman for the company.
“They have been working around the clock now for 10 days, through the physical and mental challenges of this operation, and are anxious to finish the mission and return to their loved ones,” Mahoney said.
How the Titanic sub’s unconventional design may have destined it for disaster
Debris from the Titan was located about 3,810 metres (12,500 feet) under water and roughly 488 metres (1,600 feet) from the Titanic on the ocean floor, the coastguard said last week. The coastguard is leading the investigation into why the submersible imploded during its June 18 descent. Officials announced on June 22 that the submersible had imploded and all five people on board were dead.
The coastguard has convened a Marine Board of Investigation into the implosion. That is the highest level of investigation conducted by the coastguard.
One of the experts the coastguard consulted during the search said analysing the physical material of recovered debris could reveal important clues about what happened to the Titan. And there could be electronic data, said Carl Hartsfield of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
“Certainly all the instruments on any deep sea vehicle, they record data. They pass up data. So the question is, is there any data available? And I really don’t know the answer to that question,” he said on Monday.
Representatives for Horizon Arctic did not respond to requests for comment. Coastguard representatives declined to comment on the investigation or the return of debris to shore on Wednesday.
Ocean Gate CEO and pilot Stockton Rush was killed in the implosion along with two members of a prominent Pakistani family, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood; British adventurer Hamish Harding; and Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet.
Representatives for the National Transportation Safety Board and Transportation Safety Board of Canada, which are both involved in the investigation, also declined to comment. The National Transportation Safety Board has said the coastguard has declared the loss of the Titan submersible to be a “major marine casualty” and the coastguard will lead the investigation.
“We are not able to provide any additional information at this time as the investigation is ongoing,” said Liam MacDonald, a spokesman for the Transportation Safety Board of Canada.
Who was on board the ill-fated Titanic tourist submersible?
A spokesperson for the International Maritime Organization, the UN’s maritime agency, has said any investigative reports from the disaster would be submitted for review. Member states of the IMO can also propose changes such as stronger regulations of submersibles.
Currently, the IMO has voluntary safety guidelines for tourist submersibles which include requirements they be inspected, have emergency response plans, and have a certified pilot on board among other requirements. Any safety proposals are not likely to be considered by the IMO until its next Maritime Safety Committee which begins in May 2024.
OceanGate Expeditions, the company that owned and operated the Titan, is based in the US but the submersible was registered in the Bahamas. The OceanGate company in Everett, Washington closed when the Titan was found. Meanwhile, the Titan’s mother ship, the Polar Prince, was from Canada.
The operator charged passengers US$250,000 each to take part in the voyage. The implosion of the Titan has raised questions about the safety of private undersea exploration operations. The coastguard also wants to use the investigation to improve safety of submersibles.
