Presumed human remains recovered from within Titan sub debris: US Coast Guard

The five were OceanGate CEO and pilot Stockton Rush; two members of a prominent Pakistani family, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman; British adventurer Hamish Harding; and French Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet.

Team Newsable

First Published Jun 29, 2023, 9:33 AM IST | Last Updated Jun 29, 2023, 9:33 AM IST

The US Coast Guard on Wednesday (June 28) reported that presumed human remains have been recovered from within the wreckage of the Titan, the submersible that imploded on a voyage to the Titanic earlier this month. "The Coast Guard will transport the evidence recovered from the north Atlantic to a US port where medical professionals will conduct a formal analysis of the remains," officials said.

Speaking to a news agency, Jason Neubauer, a chair captain with the Marine Board of Investigation said, "The evidence will provide investigators from several international jurisdictions with critical insights into the cause of this tragedy. There is still a substantial amount of work to be done to understand the factors that led to the catastrophic loss of the Titan and help ensure a similar tragedy does not occur again."

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This development comes nearly a week after authorities announced they had found the wreckage of the craft, which disappeared while attempting to descend to the Titanic wreck two miles below the surface, following an international search and rescue effort.

Last week the Coast Guard had said that the five crew members onboard the submersible were probably killed instantly in a "catastrophic implosion".

On Wednesday morning, pieces of the wrecked vessel washed ashore in Newfoundland, Canada. According to officials, this evidence will help in the investigation of the disaster and provide information on the experimental design, safety regulations, and lack of certification of the vessel.

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Large pieces of metal resembling parts of the Titan's white hull and landing skids, designed for touching down on the seabed, arrived in St John's, via the Horizon Arctic, a Canadian ship.

Twisted cables and other items likely involved in the mechanics of the 22ft (6.7-meter) submersible were among the wreckage recovered from the craft, which was launched from a ship on June 18, and lost contact with the surface one hour and 45 minutes later.

An important aspect of the inquiry to determine what went wrong is retrieving the debris. Industry professionals have long questioned the craft's design and questioned OceanGate, the US corporation that operated the submersible, about its safety record.

Prior to the wreckage being found on the ocean floor, the world had waited with bated breath for news of the vessel. Millions of people tuned in to media coverage to see if the sub would be found before its oxygen supplies depleted.

Horizon Arctic used a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) to search the ocean floor near the Titanic wreck for pieces of the submersible. Pelagic Research Services, a company with offices in Massachusetts and New York that owns the ROV, said in a statement on Wednesday that it had completed offshore operations.

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