Canadian and United States government authorities are starting a safety investigation following the conclusion that OceanGate’s Titan submersible suffered a “catastrophic implosion”, instantly killing all five passengers.
The five people were on a tourist expedition to the wreck of the Titanic at 3,800 meters (12,467 ft) below sea level in the North Atlantic at the time of the accident.
At the ocean floor, deep-sea robots are busy searching for clues about what happened leading up to the catastrophic implosion (a violent collapse inwards the sub) that likely occurred Sunday.
U.S. opens investigation
The U.S. Coast Guard, which declared the loss of the Titan to be a “major marine casualty”, will lead the investigation, according to the U.S. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) spokesperson Peter Knudson. The NTSB has also joined the investigation.
The U.S. Coast Guard has not confirmed that it will lead the investigation.
Canada begins probing implosion and Polar Prince role
Meanwhile, Canadian safety officials opened an investigation into the undersea implosion of a tourist submersible.
They have launched immediately launched a probe into the Polar Prince, the Titan’s mother ship and support vessel. At least 17 crew members and 24 others were on board the ship during the Titan’s journey.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) is investigating the implosion. “A team of TSB investigators is travelling to St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, to gather information, conduct interviews, and assess the occurrence. In the coming days, we will coordinate our activities with other agencies involved,” the agency said in a statement.
TSB launches investigation into a marine occurrence involving the Canadian-registered vessel Polar Prince and the submersible Titan #TSBMarine https://t.co/uVjKM9eJA7
— TSB of Canada (@TSBCanada) June 23, 2023
The Titan suddenly lost communication with the ship an hour and 45 minutes into its descent, leading to a frantic five-day multinational search mission for the lost vessel.
Complex investigation
The proceedings of the overall investigation of the tragedy are complicated since the world of deep-sea exploration is not well-regulated. Another reason is the involvement of vessels and individuals from multiple countries.
It was unclear who would have the authority to lead the investigations. OceanGate Expeditions, which owned the Titan sub, is based in Everett, United States, but the submersible was registered in the Bahamas. Meanwhile, the Titan’s mother ship, the Polar Prince, is from Canada. The five people on board the submersible were from France, Pakistan, United Kingdom, and the United States.
What happened to Titan sub?
The Titan submersible, owned and operated by underwater tourism company OceanGate Expeditions, went missing on Sunday and all five passengers on board were presumed dead on Thursday after an international search found debris from the vessel near the Titanic wreckage. A U.S. Coast Guard official said the debris was “consistent with a catastrophic implosion of the vessel.”
The 22-foot long, 20,000-pound submersible named Titan offers Titanic tourism voyages. The fee for the 8-day expedition was $250,000 per person.
The five passengers on board the Titan sub included OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, British businessman Hamish Harding, French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet, and the British-Pakistani father and son, Shahzada Dawood and Suleman Dawood.
— OceanGate Expeditions (@OceanGateExped) June 22, 2023