Topline
Officials have returned debris from OceanGate’s submersible Titan back to land, less than a week after the passengers of the vessel were declared dead after joining an expedition to view the wreck of the Titanic in a submersible that was widely criticized for its lax safety measures and ultimately fatally imploded.
Investigators will now use the pieces recovered from the Titan vessel to discern what went wrong … [+]
Key Facts
The debris was returned to the Canadian port of St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, where investigators will use the mangled pieces of the submersible to investigate what led the vessel to implode.
A remotely operated vehicle (ROV) operated by Horizon Arctic, a Canadian ship, searched the ocean floor near the Titanic wreck for pieces of the vessel and completed its offshore operations Wednesday, Pelagic Research Services, the company that owns the ROV, said in a statement.
The pieces of debris that were brought onto land on Wednesday were twisted and mangled chunks of the OceanGate sub, images show.
Key Background
The debris was brought onto land ten days after the submersible first lost contact with its support ship on the surface. When the vessel lost contact, less than two hours after it began its descent to the site of the Titanic wreck, a search and rescue began. For days, the world was captivated by the possibility of the passengers—OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, British aviation mogul Hamish Harding, French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet and British-Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son, Suleman—returning alive. At the time of its descent, the submersible was estimated to have about 96 hours worth of oxygen reserves for all five people aboard. On Thursday, after that window had closed, the U.S. Coast Guard District Northeast announced it had found a debris field near the site of the Titanic. When the Coast Guard later confirmed the debris field contained parts of the submersible, it said the vessel suffered a “catastrophic” failure, likely the result of an implosion.
Contra
During the search for the submersible, a number of details emerged about how the vessel was constructed. Rush said he had “broken some rules” when designing the submersible and said it was designed “with logic and good engineering,” during a 2021 interview with vlogger Alan Estrada. The OceanGate founder also alluded to the use of carbon fiber material in the design—a material that’s been criticized by many, including Titanic film director James Cameron.
Big Number
12,500. That’s how far underwater debris from the Titan was located, the Coast Guard said last week. The debris was found about 1,600 feet from the Titanic on the ocean floor, according to the Coast Guard.
Further Reading
Titan Sub Passengers Have ‘Sadly Been Lost’—As Coast Guard Finds Debris From ‘Catastrophic Event’ Near Titanic Wreckage (Forbes)
Pieces Of Titan Submersible Discovered In Debris Field Near Titanic Wreck, Report Says (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/anafaguy/2023/06/28/debris-from-titanic-submersible-recovered/