Titan Disaster
The final pieces of debris and evidence were retrieved from the implosion site and will now be analyzed
The Untied States Coast Guard said it recovered “presumed human remains” as it dredged up the remaining debris and evidence from the the Titan submersible disaster.
In a statement, the Coast Guard said its Marine Board of Investigation “recovered” the remaining remnants last week, Oct. 4. The debris was “transferred to a U.S. port for cataloging and analysis,” while the presumed human remains were “transported for analysis by U.S. medical professionals.”
The MBI, the National Transportation Safety Board, and other investigative agencies are coordinating to “schedule a joint evidence review” of the debris. The review “will help determine the next steps for necessary forensic testing,” the Coast Guard said. Additionally, “evidence analysis and witness interviews” will continue ahead of a public hearing, which will take place at a later date.
The Titan submersible imploded and killed five people on board near the Titanic wreckage in the North Atlantic Ocean back in June. The craft, owned and operated by the company OceanGate Expeditions, was designed to take high-paying customers on deep-sea adventures, such as seeing the Titanic up close. The five people on board included the pilot and OceanGate’s founder and CEO, Stockton Rush, as well as British aviation businessman Hamish Harding, retired French Navy commander and Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet, British-Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, and his 19-year-old son, Suleman.
The Titan was first reported missing on Sunday, June 18, after it lost contact with its support ship and then failed to return from its expedition. A massive search began to locate the ship, during which Rolling Stone reported that a Canadian aircraft detected “banging” in 30-minute intervals coming from the area where the divers disappeared.
On Thursday, June 22, U.S. officials confirmed that the Titan had imploded. The U.S. Navy also said one of its top secret acoustic detection systems picked up the submersible implosion days prior to the news being officially announced.