New image of Titan submersible wreck released by US Coast Guard

An eerie image of the sunken Titan submersible was made public this week by the US Coast Guard, which opened an investigation into the vessel’s demise.

The submersible was attempting to ferry tourists to the wreckage of the Titanic when it vanished on June 18th of last year. After days of scouring the Atlantic, the Coast Guard determined that the Titan had suffered a “catastrophic implosion.”  

A remotely operated vehicle (ROV) discovered debris from the Titan on June 22nd, 2023 about 500 meters (1640 feet) from the bow of the Titanic. The Coast Guard shared an ROV image of the Titan’s tail cone protruding from the seafloor as part of a presentation during the first day of a public hearing that started on September 16th.

“This discovery led to the conclusive evidence of the catastrophic loss of the submersible TITAN and the death of all five members aboard,” the presentation (available as a powerpoint or PDF document online) says.

The youngest passenger was 19-year-old Suleman Dawood, the son of 48-year-old British Pakistani billionaire Shahzada Dawood who was also on board the Titan. British billionaire Hamish Harding, who was 68 and had previously flown on a Blue Origin suborbital flight, was the third tourist on board. The Titan’s co-pilot, 77-year-old Paul-Henri Nargeolet, and pilot, 61-year-old Stockton Rush, also perished. Rush was CEO of the company OceanGate that owned and operated the vessel. The Coast Guard recovered human remains from the wreck site and brought the wreckage of the Titan to shore “for analysis.”

The US Coast Guard is still investigating whether any misconduct, negligence, or violation of law occurred that contributed to the loss of the vessel and deaths of everyone on board. It also wants to know whether there is any evidence of a physical failure or design flaw dooming the vessel, so it can craft any safety recommendations in response.

The hearing is scheduled to take place through September 27th and is being livestreamed on the US Coast Guard’s YouTube account. It’ll include testimony from crew members and technical experts, as well evidence gathered on the Titan’s design, operation, and safety protocols.