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CNN quoted the US Coast Guard (USCG) as saying that all five victims on the missing submersible Titan were killed in what appeared to be a "terrible explosion".
The news is a sad end to a massive international rescue effort for the Titan submersible (pictured) that went missing during a tour of the Titanic wreck.
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The tragic crush
Ocean Gate, the company that owns the Titan, issued a statement confirming: “These men were true explorers who shared a spirit of adventure and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world’s oceans. Our hearts go out to these five souls and all their families.” The five people who died on the ship were: Stockton Rush (61 years old) - founder and CEO of OceanGate, British billionaire Hamish Harding (58 years old), British-Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood (48 years old), his son Suleman (19 years old) and French oceanographer and Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet (77 years old).
Speaking to reporters in Boston, Rear Admiral John Mauger, Commander of USCG Region 1, said that an unmanned deep-sea search robot discovered the wreckage of the Titan submersible on the morning of June 22, about 488 meters from the bow of the Titanic and 4 kilometers above sea level. "The debris indicates a catastrophic crushing occurred in the submersible's anti-pressure compartment," Mauger said. Although Rear Admiral Mauger said it was too early to know exactly when the Titan crashed, the location of the debris quite close to the Titanic wreck and the time the Titan lost contact, suggesting the incident occurred as the ship was preparing to land on the seabed on June 18.
The Wall Street Journal quoted an unnamed senior US Navy official as saying that the force heard a noise believed to be the Titan being crushed, several hours after the sub began its journey. A secret US Navy underwater sound detection system (used to detect enemy submarines) heard a noise indicating a crushing or explosion occurring near the area where the Titan went missing. The US Navy could not confirm at that time that the sound they heard was the Titan being crushed and did not publicize this information to the media to ensure the search for survivors continued. However, the information helped the USCG, the force leading the search for the Titan, narrow the search area for the ship before the wreckage was found on June 22.
Search teams will soon leave the scene after a four-day multinational operation, but autonomous vehicles will continue to collect evidence from the seabed. It is unclear whether bodies will be recovered, given the nature of the accident and the harsh conditions at 4km below the surface.
The danger was forewarned.
The safety of the Titan will be at the center of questions surrounding the accident and the investigation, observers say. OceanGate’s safety lapses were first raised in a lawsuit filed in 2018 by a former executive. OceanGate fired its director of marine operations, David Lochridge, after he raised concerns about the safety of the Titan and refused to approve human-carrying test trips. In a lawsuit filed in Washington state five years ago, OceanGate accused Lochridge of breaching a confidentiality agreement by disclosing confidential and proprietary company information.
Former CEO Lochridge expressed concern that OceanGate refused to conduct non-destructive testing of the hull design, a method of finding internal or external defects without damaging the Titan. Mr. Lochridge also said that the design of the submersible's observation window can only withstand the permissible pressure at a depth of 1,300m, but OceanGate planned to take passengers to a depth of 4,000m. Mr. Lochridge also asked OceanGate to evaluate the safety of the Titan through a specialized agency in the United States.
Titanic director James Cameron said that the Titan accident had similarities to the Titanic disaster. Accordingly, the Titanic captain was warned many times about the dangers of sailing into an area with a lot of ice at night, with very poor visibility. Safety warnings about the Titan were also given but were ignored.
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