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Catastrophic Implosion of Titan submersible – OceanGate suspends exploration and commercial operations

by | Jul 10, 2023 | World News | 0 comments

OceanGate owned the Titan submersible, which imploded during a voyage to the Titanic, killing all five people on board, including the firm’s CEO, Stockton Rush. Due to this unfortunate event, all on-site commercial operations and exploration are suspended temporarily. But the site still features highlights of the expedition’s tour of the Titanic wreckage.

OceanGate had conducted over 14 expeditions and more than 200 dives across the Pacific, Atlantic, and Gulf of Mexico. The company charged $250,000 for a ticket from a tourist who wanted to experience adventure on the Titan submersible. The underwater vehicle (Titan) was the 111-year-old remains of the Titanic and was about 12,500 feet below the ocean’s surface.

The Titan vessel, which weighed 23,000 pounds, lost contact with its mother ship about 1 hour and 45 minutes into a dive towards the Titanic, which was reported on June 18, 2023. The submersible was reported missing to the US Coast Guard and Canadian authorities.

The Titan’s tragic failure to resurface initiated an international search from the ocean’s swelling surface to its cold, blind depths, which captured the world’s attention for days.

On June 22, 2023, it was declared that the vessel had suffered a “catastrophic implosion,” killing all five onboard members. The five onboard members were recognized as CEO Stockton Rush, British businessman Hamish Harding, French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet, Pakistani billionaire Shahzada Dawood, and Dawood’s 19-year-old son, Suleman Dawood.

The US Coast Guard last week recovered presumed human remains from the submersible’s wreckage that was found on the ocean floor and taken to the port of St. John’s, Newfoundland, in eastern Canada.

 

Marine Board of Investigation Chair Capt. Jason Neubauer said that victims were assumed to have died instantly when the Titan submersible imploded under the crushing pressure of the North Atlantic at a depth of more than two miles. Yet, a substantial amount of work remains 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.

David Lochridge, who worked as an independent contractor for the company in 2015, had previously emailed another former OceanGate associate, Rob McCallum, about the submersible’s potential failings, warnings, and safety concerns, but was not taken seriously. He expressed disappointment with Stockton Rush that his ignorance and quest to boost his ego took lives—an accident waiting to happen.

Apart from the official notice on the website on Thursday, July 6, 2023, that “OceanGate has suspended all exploration and commercial operations”, no additional information is in the news.

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