Coast Guard releases new video of Titan wreckage that confirmed ‘catastrophic loss’

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – The Coast Guard has released a new video showing wreckage pieces discovered after a manned submersible imploded on its way to explore the Titanic’s final resting place.

OceanGate Expeditions created the Titan submersible with the intent of exploring the Titanic’s remains. On June 18, 2023, after making its descent, the Titan lost contact with its support vessel, Polar Prince. An extensive search ensued.

Coast Guard officials said the video taken on June 22, 2023, by a remotely operated machine shows the Titan submersible’s tail cone and carbon fiber scattered in the background. The captured video is what led authorities to deem the tragedy a “catastrophic loss” and confirm the death of Titan’s five passengers, according to the Coast Guard.

OceanGate CEO and pilot Stockton Rush, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood, British explorer Hamish Harding, and Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet perished in the implosion.

In a two-week Coast Guard hearing meant to uncover why the vessel imploded, panelists said during the recovery operations, presumed human remains were recovered from the debris site on the ocean floor.

The debris site was about 1,600 feet from the Titanic’s bow.

The recovered human remains were DNA profiled by the Air Force Medical Examiners System and then matched to the victims by the Rhode Island Medical Examiner, who notified the victims’ families.

Also revealed in the hearing was the Titan’s last communications with the Polar Prince through an animation.

Titan sent its last message to support one hour and 47 minutes into the mission. About 32 minutes before all contact was lost, Titan sent a message to support that read,  “All good here.”

Before the fateful dive, Titan had four previous missions in May and June that were plagued with problems.

Coast Guard documents say that on the second mission, from May 20 to May 28, Titan’s tail cone fairing was ripped off, and 13 equipment issues were recorded.

When the fourth mission occurred, one of the dives saw a resurfacing error, which caused the vessel’s platform to become inverted and slammed all five passengers to the aft of the submersible, panelists explained.

The fourth mission ended just three days before the Titan imploded.

Titan had completed expeditions to the Titanic in 2021 and 2022, consisting of several missions. In 2021, Titan attempted ten dives, six of which were deemed successful.

During the 2021 dives, 70 equipment issues were identified that required correction, including the forward dome falling off during recovery, drop weight issues including failure at 3,500 meters, and the platform being damaged on recovery.

2022’s expedition consisted of 13 attempted dives, with seven deemed successful. Forty-eight equipment issues were recorded during the time, according to Coast Guard documents.

Some failures included passengers being stuck in the Titan for 27 hours, batteries dying, another damaged platform and the aft fairing being torn off.

After the dives in 2022, the vessel was uncovered and left in a dock parking lot to weather the elements until February 6, 2023.

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