Engineers have successfully recovered the remaining debris and presumed human remains from the ill-fated Titan submersible, which imploded during its ill-fated journey to explore the Titanic, according to the US Coast Guard.
The submersible met its demise during a dive to the Titanic shipwreck in June, resulting in the tragic loss of all five passengers on board. The search for the submersible triggered a global search effort and held the public’s attention until the first pieces of wreckage were located a few days later.
On Tuesday, Coast Guard officials disclosed that they had retrieved the additional components of the submersible from the ocean floor the previous week and transported them to a US port. Medical experts will now analyze the recovered human remains.
Although OceanGate, the company that constructed it, labeled the Titan submersible as an “experimental” vessel, it had conducted several dives to the Titanic wreck, reaching a depth of 3,800 meters (12,467 feet) below sea level in the North Atlantic Ocean.
Stockton Rush, the CEO of the company, was on board the ill-fated vessel when it imploded due to the immense water pressure. The other four passengers who tragically lost their lives were: Shahzada Dawood, a British-Pakistani businessman, 48, and his son Suleman, 19; British businessman Hamish Harding, 58; and Paul-Henry Nargeolet, 77, a former French navy diver.
US court documents that came to light after the submersible’s implosion indicated that Mr. Rush had disregarded safety warnings regarding the submersible. OceanGate, which had organized dives in various locations worldwide, suspended all its operations following the disaster.
The Titan’s hull was constructed from carbon fiber, with titanium end plates and a small window at one end. Carbon fiber, while being a cost-effective and exceptionally durable material, is relatively unproven and unconventional for deep-sea expeditions with human passengers.
