Officials have unveiled the first image and video of the Titan’s remains resting on the floor of the North Atlantic Ocean.
The vessel imploded in June 2023, killing all five people on board. Now, its wreckage has been found several hundred yards from the location of the Titanic. As per the US Coast Guard officials, it is embedded more than 12,000 feet below the surface.
Following the release of the footage, people have commented on the picture and a short clip circulating online, which showcase the vessel’s tail cone.
Users were struck by the eerie photo, with one gasping, “This photo is extremely haunting.” Another shared a sense of forgetfulness, “Truthfully I don’t remember what it used to look like.”
The sadness was palpable as one user expressed, “Very sad and disturbing to look at,” while another reflected on the impact the images might have on loved ones, “I would hate to be a family member of one of the members and see this video.”
Shock continued to ripple through the online community, with someone writing, “I can’t believe there were 5 people in here 😔 so sad!” Another user summed up the collective disbelief, “Still so wild how that happened.”
Officials said photographic evidence obtained by a remotely operated vehicle provided clear confirmation of the catastrophic failure of the Titan submersible and the deaths of its five passengers.
The Pelagic Research Services 6000 remotely operated vehicle discovered the aft tail cone and other debris after several days of searching.
These findings came on June 22, 2023, four days after the submersible began its dive into the Titanic and subsequently lost contact with the surface.
The families of those on board have been seeking answers ever since the tragedy occurred. The five people who had boarded the Titan were OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman Dawood, British businessman Hamish Harding, and French deep-sea explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet.
Investigators have been working hard to give answers to the families of the deceased. They discovered that the Titan submersible transmitted its final message only six seconds before losing contact with the surface.
Investigators have been working hard to give answers to the families of the deceased. They discovered that the Titan submersible transmitted its final message only six seconds before losing contact with the surface.
The message read, “dropped two wts,” which was the weight the submersible needed to shed so that it could return to the surface.
A lawsuit filed by the family of one of the victims alleges that the message, sent approximately 90 minutes into the dive, suggested the crew might have been aware of an issue and were attempting to abort the mission.
Moments later, the Titan was pinged for the final time before the mother ship, the Polar Prince, lost contact with the vessel. Authorities have since recovered presumed human remains believed to be from the victims of the Titan submersible.
According to the Marine Board of Investigation, DNA testing and analysis confirmed the remains were those of the five men on board.
Aside from the message the Titan sent to the mothership, those onboard also communicated. As we previously reported, the final, heartbreaking moments of communication between the main crew and their support vessel during the tragedy of the Titan submersible have been revealed through the ongoing investigation.
The U.S. Coast Guard began a set of hearings on Monday, September 16, 2024, to look into the June 2023 implosion of the Titan submersible. One of the most haunting revelations was a brief message sent by the crew to the support ship, Polar Prince. This turned out to be the last piece of communication before the submersible lost contact and later imploded.
The exchange occurred on June 18, 2023, while the submersible was descending to explore the Titanic wreck site. At around 10:00 a.m., the Polar Prince tried to communicate with the crew. They repeatedly asked whether the sub could see the support vessel on its display.
Despite asking the same question seven times in seven minutes, the Titan’s response was sporadic. At 10:14 a.m., the crew sent a short response, “k,” followed by another short reply to the same question: “Yes.” Moments later, they added, “All good here.”
The communication between the two vessels ended abruptly at 10:47 a.m., and the Titan’s final descent ended in disaster. The submersible imploded, killing all on board.
These details were presented with an animated re-enactment during Monday’s hearing. This was part of a larger effort by the Marine Board of Investigation (MBI) to understand what led to the tragedy and what could have been done differently.
In a press conference held a day before the hearings began, Jason Neubauer, the chair of the MBI, expressed condolences to the families of those lost. He also emphasized the board’s dedication to conducting a thorough investigation of everything gathered in the past 15 months.
According to Neubauer, the board was committed to identifying safety gaps and making recommendations to prevent similar incidents in the future. He also addressed reporters’ questions about the scope of the inquiry. Their ultimate goal is to discover both technical and procedural flaws in the mission.
He assured the public that all information gathered during the hearings would be made available. However, the investigation’s final report is set to be released after an analysis by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Coast Guard.
To understand the context of these hearings, it’s important to look back at the first days of this tragedy. The Coast Guard’s response to the incident began immediately after they were informed of the Titan’s disappearance.
They launched a massive surface and aerial search operation approximately 900 miles east of Cape Cod. Even Canadian authorities were enlisted for additional support with aircraft and sonar buoys.
The search area was challenging due to its remote location and extreme depths of around 13,000 feet. Rear Admiral John Mauger of the U.S. Coast Guard led the initial press briefings to the public. He provided updates on the search efforts and detailed how the Coast Guard was working to find the submersible and to rescue those on board.
Mauger also noted the submersible’s 96-hour emergency air supply, which made their mission much more urgent. Unfortunately, their endeavor was unsuccessful. On June 25, the Coast Guard officially concluded the search and rescue phase.
They then transitioned into a formal investigation led by the MBI with the help of international agencies. Their plans included meticulously recovering evidence from the seafloor. It was also noted that voice recordings and data from the support vessel would be examined.
By June 28, 2023, the M/V Horizon Arctic had successfully transported the first batch of evidence from the wreck site to St. John’s, Newfoundland. The recovered materials were later transferred to a U.S. port for further examination. On October 4, 2023, Coast Guard engineers and international partners retrieved additional debris from the seafloor.
The findings of the past year of investigation will be presented during these court hearings, which will continue over the next two weeks. The legal proceedings can be watched for free on the US Coast Guard’s YouTube and other news channels.
