Titan submersible
MV Polar Prince departed St. John's, Newfoundland (1), on 16 June 2023, and arrived at the dive site (2) on 17 June 2023, where Titan was deployed and began its descent the next day
On 18 June 2023, Titan, a submersible operated by American tourism and expeditions company OceanGate, imploded during its descent in the North Atlantic Ocean, about 370 nautical miles (690 km) off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, during a tourist expedition to view the wreck of the Titanic. The submersible contained Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate; Paul-Henri Nargeolet, a French deep sea explorer and Titanic expert; Hamish Harding, a British businessman; and Shahzada and Suleman Dawood, a Pakistani-British businessman and his son.
Communication with Titan was lost 1 hour and 45 minutes into its dive, and authorities were alerted when it failed to resurface at the scheduled time later that day. After a search lasting nearly 80 hours, a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) discovered a debris field containing parts of Titan, about 500 metres (1,600 ft) from the bow of the Titanic. The search area was informed by the United States Navy's (USN) sonar detection of an acoustic signature consistent with an implosion around the time communications with the submersible ceased, suggesting the pressure hull had imploded while Titan was descending, resulting in the instantaneous deaths of all five occupants.
The search and rescue operation was conducted by an international team led by the United States Coast Guard (USCG), USN, and Canadian Coast Guard. Support was provided by aircraft from the Royal Canadian Air Force and United States Air National Guard, a Royal Canadian Navy ship, as well as several commercial and research vessels and ROVs. Numerous industry experts had raised concerns about the safety of the vessel. OceanGate executives, including Rush, had not sought certification for Titan, arguing that excessive safety protocols hindered innovation.
Presumed human remains found in Titan sub debris
The CEO of the submersible company, a British billionaire explorer, a French diver and a father and son were all on board the Titan
All five people on board the vessel died on 18 June after it imploded about 90 minutes into a dive to view the famous 1912 shipwreck, which sits at a depth of 3,800m (12,500ft) in the north Atlantic. The passengers were the head of OceanGate, which organised the dive, 61-year-old Stockton Rush; British explorer Hamish Harding, 58; Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his son, Suleman Dawood, 19; and French diver Paul-Henry Nargeolet, 77.
Officials were initially sceptical about the prospect of recovering any of the bodies. "This is an incredibly unforgiving environment down there on the seafloor," Coast Guard Adm John Mauger said, shortly after the loss of the vessel was confirmed. Cpt Neubauer said at the time that investigators would take "all precautions" if they discovered human remains and that the probe would likely include a formal hearing with witness testimony. So far, the coast guard says, five major pieces of the sub have been found in a large debris field near the bow of the Titanic.
The debris brought ashore on Wednesday appeared to include at least one titanium end cap, the sub's porthole with its window missing, as well as a titanium ring, landing frame and the end equipment bay, according to BBC science correspondent Jonathan Amos. The recovery mission was led by Canadian ship Horizon Arctic, which carried a remotely operated vehicle operated by Pelagic Research Services. The company said in a statement earlier Wednesday that its team had completed off-shore operations and was returning to base. OceanGate has been criticised for its safety practices, and former employees have raised concerns about the Titan sub, which was not subject to regulation.
Wreckage Of The Imploded Titanic Submarine Recovered | News18 LIVE
Debris from the Titan was brought ashore by deep-sea robots on Wednesday as the US Coast Guard continues recovery operations following the sub’s catastrophic implosion.
The Titan’s wreckage was seen for the first time in pictures after the Coast Guard announced on 22 June that ROVs (remotely-operated vehicles) found its chambers in a sea of debris 1,600ft from the bow of the Titanic, roughly 12,000ft below the ocean surface.
Pelagic Research Services, the company that operated the ROV that made the previous debris findings, said on Wednesday that its team had successfully completed off-shore operations and was now in the process of demobilisation after 10 days of work. The company said a press conference will be held later in the day.
Titan sub implosion: What we know about catastrophic event
What debris has been found and what does it mean?
US authorities say a debris field located in the North Atlantic leads to a conclusion that OceanGate's Titan submersible suffered a "catastrophic implosion" (a violent collapse inwards), instantly killing all five passengers on board.
The US Navy says it detected sounds "consistent with an implosion" shortly after the sub lost contact on Sunday during a descent to the Titanic wreck at 3,800m (12,467ft) below sea level - but this information was only made public on Thursday. The loss of the deep-water vessel was finally confirmed after a huge search mission in the area off Canada's Newfoundland province. What caused the implosion? Titan's hull is believed to have collapsed on Sunday as a result of enormous water pressure. The sub was built to withstand such pressure - and experts will now be trying to determine what exactly went wrong. Analysis of the debris may help to establish this.
Titan is believed to have been 3,500m below sea level when contact was lost. The vessel was so deep that the amount of water on it would have been equivalent to the weight of the Eiffel Tower, tens of thousands of tonnes. If there were a rupture to the structure, the pressure outside would be much greater than the one inside the hull, compressing the vessel.
What is an implosion, and what would it have been like for the Titan sub passengers?
The OceanGate Titan submersible descends on a previous expedition.OceanGate / AFP - Getty Images
For days, the world could only imagine the grim scene: five men cramped in a cold, dark tube, knowing that they were about to run out of air. In reality, those aboard the Titan submersible most likely died instantaneously in what officials called a "catastrophic implosion."
The deep-sea water pressure that appears to have crushed the 22-foot craft would have been roughly equivalent in weight to the 10,000-ton, wrought-iron Eiffel Tower, experts told NBC News on Friday. The colossal forces would have acted so quickly that it would be like the vehicle’s carbon-fiber hull “suddenly vanishing” before anyone inside knew what was happening, one expert said.
“They would have known nothing — the minute this body of water hit them, they would have been dead,” said Paul White, a professor at England’s University of Southampton, who specializes in underwater acoustics and forces. With the vast search effort now over, the focus turns to the many unanswered questions that remain.
What is a catastrophic implosion? Here’s what we know about the Titan submersible disaster
Expert reveals first indication of implosion in search for submersible
What was supposed to be a 10-hour journey to the Titanic shipwreck ended in tragedy, with all five passengers on the missing submersible killed in a catastrophic implosion. Their deaths were confirmed Thursday, concluding a week-long search for survivors that was closely watched around the world.
The US Navy detected a sound that would match an implosion on Sunday, the day it went missing, and search teams have since found fragments of the Titan submersible, confirming those on board have perished.
But many questions still remain as authorities continue searching for debris, including when the implosion happened and what exactly went wrong with the sub. Here’s what we know so far:
- What is a catastrophic implosion?
- What’s next for the search effort?
- What is the timeline of the disaster?
- Who was on board?
Titan implosion: Why and how the submersible might have imploded and what happened to the sub's passengers
OceanGate Expeditions' Titan submersible went missing on Sunday. OceanGate Expeditions via AP, File
The US Coast Guard confirmed Thursday that debris found 1,600 feet from the bow of the Titanic belonged to the missing Titan submersible.
The debris was said to be evidence that the submersible likely suffered a catastrophic implosion during its descent to the Titanic shipwreck on Sunday. Submersibles are designed to withstand crushing underwater pressures, like those 12,500 feet below the surface. Down there, the pressure is about 400 times greater than at sea level.
However, any damage or defect to the Titan's hull could result in a leak which would trigger the vessel to immediately implode under those extreme pressures, HITC reported.
Titan sub implosion: what we know at a glance
The US Coast Guard has confirmed that the crew of the Titan submersible died after a catastrophic event. A remotely operated vehicle from Horizon Arctic discovered the tail cone of the sub approximately 1,600ft from the bow of the Titanic. “The debris is consistent with a catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber,” said R Adm John Mauger, the first coast guard district commander.
Mauger noted that officials were unsure of when the “catastrophic implosion” took place. “We know that as we’ve been prosecuting this search over the course of the last 72 hours. Beyond that, we’ve had sonar buoys in the water nearly continuously and have not detected any catastrophic events when those buoys have been in the water,” said Mauger.
Families of the five crew members on board have been notified by the US Coast Guard, Mauger confirmed during a press conference. He added that he hoped the discovery provided some solace to families of crew members onboard during a difficult time.
Remembering the Titanic 1912
The sinking of the Titanic as depicted in Untergang der Titanic, a 1912 illustration by Willy Stöwer
The British passenger liner Titanic sank in the early morning hours of 15 April 1912 in the North Atlantic Ocean, four days into her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City. The largest ocean liner in service at the time, Titanic had an estimated 2,224 people on board when she struck an iceberg at around 23:40 (ship's time) on Sunday, 14 April 1912. Her sinking two hours and forty minutes later at 02:20 (ship's time; 05:18 GMT) on Monday, 15 April, resulted in the deaths of more than 1,500 people, making it one of the deadliest peacetime maritime disasters in history.
Titanic received six warnings of sea ice on 14 April but was travelling at a speed of roughly 22 knots when her lookouts sighted the iceberg. Unable to turn quickly enough, the ship suffered a glancing blow that buckled her starboard side and opened six of her sixteen compartments to the sea. Titanic had been designed to stay afloat with up to four of her forward compartments flooded, and the crew used distress flares and radio (wireless) messages to attract help as the passengers were put into lifeboats. In accordance with existing practice, the Titanic's lifeboat system was designed to ferry passengers to nearby rescue vessels, not to hold everyone on board simultaneously; therefore, with the ship sinking rapidly and help still hours away, there was no safe refuge for many of the passengers and crew with only 20 lifeboats, including 4 collapsible lifeboats. Poor management of the evacuation meant many boats were launched before they were completely full.
The Titanic sank with over a thousand passengers and crew still on board. Almost all of those who jumped or fell into the sea drowned or died within minutes due to the effects of cold shock and incapacitation. RMS Carpathia arrived about an hour and a half after the sinking and rescued all of the 710 survivors by 09:15 on 15 April, some nine and a half hours after the collision. The disaster shocked the world and caused widespread outrage over the lack of lifeboats, lax regulations, and the unequal treatment of third-class passengers during the evacuation. Subsequent inquiries recommended sweeping changes to maritime regulations, leading to the establishment in 1914 of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) which still governs maritime safety today.
