OceanGate: Unlikely that deceased’s remains will be found

Even though the Titan was built to withstand exceptional pressure, it is believed that the submersible imploded in milliseconds.

June 23, 2023

Caxton Reporter 1 minute read

The Titan submersible on June 1. Photo: OceanGate Expeditions/Facebook.

Authorities are trying to piece together the puzzle of how OceanGate Expeditions’ Titan submersible was destroyed and those on board killed, with experts saying the incident would have happened in a split second. It is unlikely that the deceased’s remains will be recovered.

The Titan’s expedition to the sunken Titanic grabbed the world’s attention when it was reported missing on June 18 after it began a 3 800m descent to where the shipwreck lies.

The Titan was built to withstand enormous amounts of pressure and could travel to ocean depths few other vessels could. Contact with the vessel was lost about one hour and 45 minutes into the two-hour descent and authorities were notified just over six hours after contact was lost, when the vessel did not resurface at the expected time.

Five people were inside the vessel, which could only be opened from the outside. It was estimated that there was enough oxygen to last for about 96 hours. The sub’s disappearance sparked a frantic large-scale search operation co-ordinated by the American and Canadian coast guards and navies.

The French vessel L’Atalante has just deployed their ROV. #Titanic

— USCGNortheast (@USCGNortheast) June 22, 2023

On Thursday, a remotely operated underwater vehicle belonging to French research vessel L’Atalante discovered debris close to the Titanic wreck. The debris was confirmed to be from the Titan submersible.

Aileen Maria Marty, a former Naval officer and professor at Florida International University in the United States, told CNN that a catastrophic implosion is an ‘incredibly quick’ incident that happens in a millisecond.

She said it would have happened without the occupants onboard the vessel realising what happened and called it a ‘painless’ way to die.

OceanGate Expeditions’ CEO, Stockton Rush (61), British businessman Hamish Harding (58), French diver and Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet (77), Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood (48) and his son Suleman (19) perished in the implosion.