New video of Titan sub after implosion released; operator's co-founder says its cause may never be known
The United States Coast Guard has released new footage of the Titan submersible amid a two-week hearing on the cause of the vessel's implosion that killed all five people on board in June 2023.
A video shared by CNN shows a remotely operated vehicle recovering Titan's wreckage on the ocean floor. The mechanical arms can be seen pulling and tugging its parts.
Last week, the U.S. Coast Guard shared a video of Titan's broken tail cone sitting at the bottom of the ocean, with its fragments nearby.
Titan is the vessel meant to explore the wreckage of the ill-fated cruise ship Titanic, which hit an iceberg and sank in 1912 during its maiden voyage from England to New York. Over 1,500 people out of 2,224 passengers and crew on board died. It was found in 1985 and has become a lure for nautical experts and underwater tourists.
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said submersibles—unlike submarines—have limited power reserves and need a separate support vessel to launch and recover them.
Titan, roughly the size of a minivan, lost contact with its mother ship about an hour and a quarter into its descent to the bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean on the morning of June 18. It had about four days of emergency capability.
Its wreckage was found several hundred yards from the location of the Titanic after days of searching.
The Marine Board of Investigation said a remotely operated vehicle located the tail cone and other debris on June 22 last year. The board said this provides “conclusive evidence” that the submersible experienced a catastrophic implosion.
Casualties include businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman, British explorer Hamish Harding, French submarine expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet, and Stockton Rush, chief executive officer of the sub's operator OceanGate Expeditions.
Cause may never be known
OceanGate cofounder Gullermo Söhnlein testified in the hearing, saying the cause of the disaster may never be known.
“I don't know what happened,” USA Today quoted Söhnlein as saying.
“I don't know who made what decision when and based on what information. And honestly, I don't know if any of us will ever know this, despite all of your team's investigative efforts," he told the U.S. Coast Guard.
In the hearing, Söhnlein, who co-founded OceanGate with Rush in 2009, said the company's goal was to make the deep ocean accessible to humanity.
He said they hoped to eventually run a fleet of four to five submersibles that can carry up to five passengers each.
Though he left in 2013, Söhnlein was still a minority shareholder and kept in close contact with Rush.
In ending his testimony, Söhnlein said the deep ocean was a magical place that he hoped many people would still be able to experience firsthand.
Söhnlein is hoping for others to become inspired by the mission he and Rush began in 2009, but he said “it looks like OceanGate is not going to be a part of that effort.”
The hearing, which is expected to run until Sept. 27, includes “pre-accident historical events, regulatory compliance, crew member duties and qualifications, mechanical and structural systems, emergency response and the submersible industry,” according to the US Coast Guard.
While the main goal is to “uncover the facts surrounding the incident,” board chair Jason Neubauer said the group is also tasked with identifying “misconduct or negligence by credential mariners.”