The debris from the Titan submarine that imploded on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean trying to reach the Titanic’s wreckage has been dragged ashore.
The huge chunks of metal were unloaded this morning from the Horizon Arctic vessel at the Canadian Coast Guard pier in St John’s, Newfoundland, Canada.
They were quickly covered with large tarpaulins before being lifted by cranes onto trucks that took them away for assessment. The pieces contain a large, white piece of bent metal. Another object was full of cables and other mechanical parts.
The development comes exactly ten days after the doomed submarine Titan disappeared during an OceanGate Expeditions tourist trip.
After a massive search and rescue mission, debris was discovered on the seabed last Thursday and it was revealed that the submarine had suffered a ‘catastrophic implosion’, killing all five on board.
The huge chunks of metal were unloaded this morning from the Horizon Arctic vessel at the Canadian Coast Guard pier in St John’s, Newfoundland, Canada.
They were quickly covered with large tarpaulins before being lifted by cranes onto trucks which took them away for assessment
Several large pieces of the ship have been recovered from the ocean, but other parts are believed to have been decimated by the implosion
Experts have repeatedly feared for the safety of the Titan submarine before the tragedy
Titan went missing on Sunday, June 18 while on a mission to the Titanic wreck
The US Coast Guard has launched an investigation into the cause of the underwater implosion that destroyed Titan.
Safety fears were repeatedly raised by experts who said the ship was not suited for the immense depths to which it was traveling. Critics said the carbon fiber hull was not fit for purpose and also raised the alarm about the viewing window, which was not certified to such depths.
The Coast Guard said it had established a Marine Board of Investigation (MBI), the highest level of investigation.
“My primary goal is to prevent a similar occurrence by making the necessary recommendations to increase the safety of the maritime domain worldwide,” said Jason Neubauer, the Coast Guard’s principal investigator and leader of the study.
“The MBI is already in the early stages of evidence gathering, including debris recovery operations at the scene of the incident,” he added.
Neubauer said the U.S. investigation could also make recommendations about possible prosecutions with civil or criminal sanctions “if necessary.”
Titan was reported missing last Sunday and the Coast Guard said on Thursday all five people aboard the submarine had died after the ship suffered a catastrophic implosion.
A debris field was found on the sea floor 1,600 feet (500 meters) from the bow of the Titanic, which is more than two miles (nearly four kilometers) below the ocean’s surface and 400 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.
Canada, which helped search for the submarine, said Saturday it was conducting its own probe.
The Canadian-flagged cargo ship Polar Prince towed the Titan out to sea last weekend, but lost contact about an hour and 45 minutes after the submarine launched into the depths of the ocean.
The announcement of the implosion ended a multi-national search and rescue operation that had attracted the world’s attention since the tourist vessel went missing.
Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate, which launched Titan, died aboard the submarine last Sunday along with his four passengers, including PH Nargeolet (right)
Shahzada Dawood, 48, one of Pakistan’s richest men, who along with his teenage son Suleman Dawood, 19, (together, left) died on the Titan, along with British explorer Hamish Harding (right)
Titan’s carbon fiber hull and its acrylic viewing window were subject to several warnings, and James Cameron called them “potential points of failure” on the ship
British adventurer Hamish Harding and father and son Shahzada and Suleman Dawood were killed aboard the submarine, along with the American CEO of the company responsible for the ship, Stockton Rush, and Frenchman Paul-Henri Nargeolet.
Salvage operations are continuing and investigators have mapped the scene of the accident, Cpt Neubauer said on Sunday. It is unclear how long it will take. The US Coast Guard said it does not charge for search and rescue operations.