Titanic sub latest: Titan crew’s final moments revealed as OceanGate promo video emerges
The company that operated the Titan released a promo video boasting about its “very safe” submersible just weeks before the vessel catastrophically imploded.
A promotional video on OceanGate’s Youtube channel posted ten weeks before the implosion advertised the $250,000-a-ticket trip as extremely safe.
“OceanGate Expeditions offers the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be a specially trained crew member safely diving to the Titanic wreckage site,” the speaker is heard saying in a voiceover. “Get ready for what Jules Verne could only imagine ... a journey to the bottom of the sea.”
It comes as Christine Dawood, wife to British Pakistani, Shahzada Dawood, and mother to Suleman Dawood, said the passengers listened to their favourite music as they descended in the ocean in pitch-black darkness.
Ms Dawood told the New York Times the crew were told to wear thick socks and a hat due to plunging cold temperatures.
They were also told to make a playlist of their favourite songs to play via Bluetooth during the descent.
The new details about the crew’s last moments come amid recent reports that most of the OceanGate dives to the wreck of the Titanic were reportedly unsuccessful.
Key points
Titanic sub victim’s wife reveals how crew spent their final moments
First photos of Titan wreckage released
US Coast Guard recovers ‘presumed human remains’ from sea floor near Titanic sub debris
Hamish Harding’s friend reveals race to get ROV to site of doomed sub
Mother of teenager killed in Titanic sub implosion gave up spot for ‘excited’ son
Why we are obsessed with the missing Titan submarine, according to experts
Voice recordings under scrutiny in Titanic sub implosion investigation
04:30 , Andrea Blanco
Voice recordings and other data will be reviewed as part of a US Coast Guard-appointed expert board’s probe into the catastrophic implosion of the Titan submersible last week.
American and Canadian marine authorities have announced investigations into the circumstances that led to the vessel’s malfunction after its chambers were found in a sea of debris 1,600ft from the wreck of the Titanic.
US Coast Guard Captain Jason Neubauer, who is chairing the investigation, said during a press conference on Sunday that he has summoned a Marine Board of Investigation, the highest level of investigation conducted by the Coast Guard. The board’s role is to determine the cause of the tragedy in order to pursue civil or criminal sanctions as necessary.
Voice recordings between the Titan and its mothership Polar Prince will be reviewed by investigators. The mothership’s crew is also being interviewed by different agencies.
Investigators with the Coast Guard have mapped the accident site and salvage operations are expected to continue, Cpt Jason Neubauer said. Once the investigation is wrapped — a timeline has not been laid out — a report with evidence, conclusions and recommendations will be released.
Head of key Titanic sub recovery team dodges question about OceanGate
03:30 , Andrea Blanco
Since the Titan submersible imploded, killing five people aboard, the subject of extreme tourism has been highly debated online and by professionals.
But when the CEO of Pelagic Research Services, the company that helped oversee the recovery mission of the submersible, was asked what his thoughts were on the trips OceanGate took to the Titanic, he claimed he did not have a strong opinion.
“I don’t necessarily have an opinion on that, it’s a strong investigation going on right now,” Edward Cassano said in a press conference on Friday.
The Independent’s Ariana Baio reports:
Head of key Titanic sub recovery team dodges question about OceanGate
Friend of late OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush warned Titan needed more testing after 2019 dive
02:30 , Andrea Blanco
A friend of late OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush warned him against taking customers aboard the company’s Titan submersible four years before it tragically imploded in the depths of the Atlantic Ocean.
Friend of late OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush warned Titan needed more testing in 2019
WATCH: James Cameron likens Titan submersible tragedy to Titanic
01:30 , Andrea Blanco
Who was Paul-Henri Nargeolet?
Tuesday 4 July 2023 00:30 , Andrea Blanco
French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77, was director of underwater research at a company that owns the rights to the Titanic wreck and recovers artifacts.
A former commander in the French navy, he was both a deep diver and a mine-sweeper. After retiring from the navy, he led the first recovery expedition to the Titanic in 1987 and several more, becoming a leading authority on the wreck site.
OceanGate described Mr Nargeolet as the “Titanic’s greatest explorer”.
The former naval officer was born in Chamonix, France, but spent his early years in Africa with his parents. He was married to American newsreader Michelle Marsh until she died in 2017.
He completed 35 dives in the submersible. In a 2020 interview, he spoke of the dangers of deep diving, saying: “I am not afraid to die, I think it will happen one day.”
Titan sub victims spent last moments listening to music and watching sea creatures
Monday 3 July 2023 23:30 , Andrea Blanco
Passengers on board the sunk Titan submersible likely spent their final moments listening to music in darkness and watching sea creatures in the deep, it has been revealed.
All five onboard the Titanic tourist submarine were confirmed dead on 22 June after the vessel suffered a “catastrophic explosion”.
The tail cone of the submersible was found around 1,600ft from the bow of the Titanic wreck following a frantic five-day search operation in the North Atlantic Ocean.
Father and son Shahzada Dawood, 48, and Suleman Dawood, 19, were among the victims.
Christine Dawood, wife of Shahzada and mother of Suleman, has told of the preparations carried out by Stockton Rush, the pilot of the vessel and founder and CEO of OceaGate, the company that ran the voyage.
“It was like a well-oiled operation - you could see they had done this before many times,” Ms Dawood, said of a briefing given to the passengers, in an interview with the New York Times.
Mr Rush always recommended a “low-residue diet” the day before the voyage - which was supposed to last 12 hours - and advised divers to wear thick socks and a beanie because it would get chillier the further the vessel descended into the ocean.
He warned passengers that the journey would be dark but there was a chance to catch glimpses of bioluminescent creatures.
Load some of your favourite songs onto your phone to share with others on a Bluetooth speaker, but no country music, he reportedly told them.
OceanGate touted ‘very safe’ Titanic sub in promo video weeks before doomed trip
Monday 3 July 2023 23:09 , Andrea Blanco
OceanGate Expeditions released a promo video boasting about its “very safe” submersible two months before the vessel catastrophically imploded in the depths of the Atlantic while on a dive to the wreck of the Titanic.
The company’s CEO Stockton Rush, British billionaire explorer Hamish Harding, renowned French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet and Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman were killed in the ill-fated expedition after the sub lost contact with its mothership on 18 June.
In the aftermath of the tragedy, past passengers who previously went on the 12,000-foot dive aboard the Titan have shared several concerns they had with OceanGate’s safety measures. However, a promotional video posted 10 weeks before the implosion on OceanGate’s Youtube channel advertised the $250,000-a-ticket trip as extremely safe.
The Independent reports:
OceanGate touted ‘very safe’ Titanic sub in promo video weeks before doomed trip
WATCH: Relatives of Titanic victims criticise dark tourism of submersible tours
Monday 3 July 2023 22:45 , Andrea Blanco
PICTURED: Imploded Titanic submarine Recovered from sea floor
Monday 3 July 2023 21:15 , Andrea Blanco
WATCH: Search and rescue company boss visibly emotional describing Titan search
Monday 3 July 2023 20:45 , Andrea Blanco
Wreckage of sub may reveal cracks signifying cause of implosion, expert says
Monday 3 July 2023 20:15 , Andrea Blanco
Investigators examining the recovered wreckage of the doomed Titan submarine will likely look for cracks which could signify what caused it to implode, a professor in mechanical and marine engineering has suggested.
Dr Jasper Graham-Jones, of the University of Plymouth, told The Sun that an electrical disaster may have occurred after parts of the vessel began to leak.
“This could have been an electrical catastrophe. It could have been corrosion, it could have been a fire. Any leakage of water coming through to the electrics could lead to failure as well,” he told the paper.
He added: “Some of the pipes and parts that lead outside could have begun to leak. If you have a wire going outside, then those wires going through land could actually start to leak. They could have corroded.”
While the passengers may have been aware of a very minor leak, the noise reportedly picked up by US military equipment indicates a more sudden implosion, he said.
“The crack could be brittle, or ductile, and related to fatigue and de-lamination. By scanning under an electron microscope, you can see the fatigue and confirm the speed and direction of the cracks,” he told the paper.
OceanGate CEO suggested crew slept in the sub overnight after battery malfunctioned
Monday 3 July 2023 19:45 , Andrea Blanco
Jaden Pan’s 2021 dive on the Titan was featured on an episode of the BBC’s The Travel Show last year, according to Insider.
Mr Pan said the Titan was two hours into its descent when the battery “went kaput,” and OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush announced the sub would need to go up.
“At first, I thought he was joking because we were over two hours into our expedition and so close to the bottom,” Mr Pan said. “But then he explained that one of the batteries went kaput and we were having trouble using the electronic drops for the weights, so it would be hard for us to get back up to the surface.”
Mr Rush then suggested sleeping in the sub as it descended to the wreck of the Titanic, saying that a safety feature would make the Titan emerge to the surface after 24 hours.
“We’re down here for another 16 to 24 hours,” Mr Rush said. “We will drift down. We’ll hit the bottom. We’ll have communications. We can talk to them.”
An 1851 maritime law protected the Titanic’s owners in court. Could OceanGate use it too?
Monday 3 July 2023 19:15 , Andrea Blanco
The owners of Titanic sought to limit liability following the ship’s sinking by petitioning under 1851 legislation.
The owners of the submersible lost on its dive to visit that famed ship’s wreckage may do the same thing, legal experts tell The Independet’s Sheila Flynn:
An 1851 maritime law protected Titanic owners in court. Could OceanGate use it too?
What was the banging noise picked up in search for Titanic sub?
Monday 3 July 2023 18:44 , Andrea Blanco
An implosion that killed five crew onboard the Titan submersible is now the focus of investigations by agencies from four countries.
The sub was destroyed less than two hours into a dive to the Titanic shipwreck on 18 June, claiming the lives of OceanGate Expeditions CEO Stockton Rush, father and son Shahzada and Suleman Dawood, Hamish Harding, and Paul-Henri Nargeolet.
Secret US Navy listening devices detected an “anomaly” near the Titanic shipwreck soon after the Titan departed from its support ship the Polar Prince, which is believed to be the moment sub suffered a “catastrophic implosion” of its carbon fibre hull.
The Independent’s Bevan Hurley reports:
What was the banging noise picked up in search for Titanic sub?
What photos of the Titanic sub debris tell us about its implosion
Monday 3 July 2023 18:14 , Andrea Blanco
Images of the wreckage recovered from the Titan submersible at the bottom of the North Atlantic appear to confirm the theory that the vessel suffered a massive implosion under the pressure of the ocean.
Last week, the US Coast Guard brought the debris left by the sub on the ocean floor onto dry land.
The Independent reports:
What photos of the Titanic sub debris tell us about its implosion
What happens during a catastrophic implosion?
Monday 3 July 2023 17:23 , Andrea Blanco
Experts had cautioned that under intense pressure at extreme depths the Titan’s hull could implode, which would result in instant death for anyone aboard the vessel.
“I don’t think people can appreciate the amazing energy involved in the destructive process of an implosion,” Bob Ballard, a member of the team that found the Titanic wreck in 1985, told ABC News. “It just takes out and literally shreds everything.”
A sphere is a “perfect shape” because water pressure is exerted equally on all areas, said Chris Roman, a professor at the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography.
The 22-foot long (6.7-meter long), 23,000-pound (10,432-kilogram) Titan’s larger internal volume — while still cramped with a maximum of five seated people — meant it was subjected to more external pressure.
The water pressure at 12,500 feet (3,800 meters) below the surface at the site of the Titanic wreck is roughly 400 atmospheres or 6,000 pounds per square inch.
Though the Titan had a composite hull with inbuilt sensors that could withstand high pressures near the seafloor, any defect could result in a “near instantaneous implosion” in less than 40 milliseconds, said associate professor Eric Fusil, director of the Shipbuilding Hub at the University of Adelaide in Australia.
WATCH: Titan submersible wreckage brought ashore after fatal implosion
Monday 3 July 2023 16:30 , Andrea Blanco
Friend of late OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush warned Titan needed more testing after 2019 dive
Monday 3 July 2023 16:00 , Andrea Blanco
A friend of late OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush warned him against taking customers aboard the company’s Titan submersible four years before it tragically imploded in the depths of the Atlantic Ocean.
Karl Stanley, the owner of a diving expedition company in Honduras and a close friend of Mr Rush, went on a tour aboard the Titan off the coast of the Bahamas in 2019, The New York Times first reported. In emails obtained by Insider of an alleged exchange between the two deep-sea enthusiasts, Mr Stanley told Mr Rush that he had heard a large cracking sound while on the 12,000-foot-deep dive.
“I think that hull has a defect near that flange, that will only get worse. The only question in my mind is will it fail catastrophically or not,” Mr Stanley wrote in a premonitory email, years before the Titan’s catastrophic implosion that killed all five of its passengers.
We still don’t have answers to these 9 questions
Monday 3 July 2023 15:30 , Andrea Blanco
The desperate search for the missing Titanic submersible came to a tragic end when debris was discovered deep in the ocean.
But, we still don’t know many crucial aspects of the doomed voyage.
The Independent’s Rachel Sharp, Io Dodds, Bevan Hurley and Andrea Blanco report:
These nine questions remain unanswered in the Titanic sub catastrophe
Titan sub victims spent last moments listening to music and watching sea creatures
Monday 3 July 2023 15:00 , Andrea Blanco
Passengers on board the sunk Titan submersible likely spent their final moments listening to music in darkness and watching sea creatures in the deep, it has been revealed.
All five onboard the Titanic tourist submarine were confirmed dead on 22 June after the vessel suffered a “catastrophic explosion”.
The tail cone of the submersible was found around 1,600ft from the bow of the Titanic wreck following a frantic five-day search operation in the North Atlantic Ocean.
The Independent’s Matt Mathers reports:
Titan sub victims spent last moments listening to music and watching sea creatures
Most dives by the Titan sub were aborted, report says
Monday 3 July 2023 14:30 , Andrea Blanco
The company that operated the doomed submersible which imploded in the Atlantic promised fee-paying passengers exceptional views of the Titanic’s wreck for $250,000.
But according to an in-depth report by The New York Times published on Sunday, most of the 12,000-ft dives by the Titan did not end with up-close views of the world’s most famous shipwreck.
The Times reported that more missions were aborted than accomplished.
OceanGate began taking customers on dives to the Titanic in 2021, with its late CEO Stockton Rush styling the company as an innovative intersection between research and tourism that looked to push the limits of safety.
But in the aftermath of the tragedy, which killed all five passengers including Mr Rush, several people shared experiences of their Titan dives.
Business owner Bill Price told the Times that on a 2021 dive, the sub lost its propulsion system during the descent. Although Mr Rush immediately aborted the trip, he reportedly couldn’t get a “drop-weight mechanism” to release ballast for the emergency ascent.
Everyone aboard the sub then began shifting sides, using their weight to rock the vessel until the ballast dislodged.
“After several rolls, we got momentum going,” Mr Price told the Times. “Then, we heard a clunk, and we all collectively knew one had dropped off. So we continued to do that, until the weights were all out.”
The next day, the Titan made another dive.
Watch: OceanGate co-founder says regulations around Titanic dives are ‘sparse’ and ‘antiquated’
Monday 3 July 2023 14:00 , Ariana Baio
What happens during a catastrophic implosion?
Monday 3 July 2023 12:00 , Ariana Baio
Experts had cautioned that under intense pressure at extreme depths the Titan’s hull could implode, which would result in instant death for anyone aboard the vessel.
“I don’t think people can appreciate the amazing energy involved in the destructive process of an implosion,” Bob Ballard, a member of the team that found the Titanic wreck in 1985, told ABC News. “It just takes out and literally shreds everything.”
A sphere is a “perfect shape” because water pressure is exerted equally on all areas, said Chris Roman, a professor at the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography.
The 22-foot long (6.7-meter long), 23,000-pound (10,432-kilogram) Titan’s larger internal volume — while still cramped with a maximum of five seated people — meant it was subjected to more external pressure.
The water pressure at 12,500 feet (3,800 meters) below the surface at the site of the Titanic wreck is roughly 400 atmospheres or 6,000 pounds per square inch.
Though the Titan had a composite hull with inbuilt sensors that could withstand high pressures near the seafloor, any defect could result in a “near instantaneous implosion” in less than 40 milliseconds, said associate professor Eric Fusil, director of the Shipbuilding Hub at the University of Adelaide in Australia.
Sub recovery company asks people to ‘respect the seriousness’ of events
Monday 3 July 2023 10:00 , Ariana Baio
Edward Cassano, the CEO of Pelagic Research Services, asked people to “Recognise the seriousness of the event and respect the death” of the victims of the Titan submersible incident and their families.
Mr Cassano swallowed back tears while giving a press conference on Friday regarding the recovery of the imploded submersible.
“Recognise the seriousness of the event and respect the death and range of emotions, certainly most important the friends and family of the Titan, and all of those in the response,” Mr Cassano said.
Titanic sub victim’s wife reveals how crew spent their final moments
Monday 3 July 2023 08:47 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain
A woman who lost both her husband and son in the Titan submersible implosion has revealed how they spent their final moments on board.
Christine Dawood, wife to British Pakistani, Shahzada Dawood, and mother to Suleman Dawood, said the passengers listened to their favourite music as they descended in the ocean in pitch-black darkness.
Ms Dawood told the New York Times the crew were told to wear thick socks and a hat due to plunging cold temperatures.
They were also told to make a playlist of their favourite songs to play via Bluetooth during the descent.
The new details about the crew’s last moments come amid recent reports that most of the OceanGate dives to the wreck of the Titanic were reportedly unsuccessful.
Watch: Search and rescue company boss visibly emotional describing Titan search
Monday 3 July 2023 07:00 , Ariana Baio
Teen who died on Titanic sub brought Rubik’s cube with him to break world record
Monday 3 July 2023 04:00 , Ariana Baio
The teenager who died on the Titan submersible took a Rubik’s cube with him because he wanted to break a world record, his mother has said.
Christine Dawood told the BBC her son Suleman, 19, was “so excited” to try and solve the puzzle 3,700 metres below the ocean surface.
Meanwhile, his father Shahzada, a businessman, was “so excited he was like a child” at the prospect of seeing the Titanic wreckage.
He had applied to Guinness World Records and his father, who also died, had brought a camera with him to capture the moment.
Ms Dawood said her son loved the famous square puzzle so much that he carried it with him everywhere and dazzled onlookers by solving it in 12 just seconds.
Who was Stockton Rush?
Monday 3 July 2023 00:00 , Ariana Baio
Stockton Rush, 61, chief executive of OceanGate Expeditions, told Sky News earlier this year the Titanic was “an amazingly beautiful wreck”.
His company, which provides crewed submersible services for researchers and explorers to travel deep into the ocean, operated the doomed Titan submersible.
Mr Rush began his career as a pilot at 19 after qualifying from the United Airlines Jet Training Institute. He was the youngest jet transport-rated pilot in the world.
According to Mr Rush’s biography on his company’s website, he graduated from Princeton University with a BSE in aerospace, aeronautical and astronautical engineering in 1984.
He then joined the McDonnell Douglas Corporation as a flight test engineer, and spent two years at Edwards Air Force Base.
He served on the Museum of Flight’s Board of Trustees, the board of enterprise software company Entomo and as chairman of Remote Control Technology.
In 2012, Mr Rush also founded the non-profit OceanGate Foundation while sitting on the board of BlueView Technologies, a manufacturer of high-frequency sonar systems.
Wreckage of sub may reveal cracks signifying cause of implosion, expert says
Sunday 2 July 2023 22:00 , Ariana Baio
Investigators examining the recovered wreckage of the doomed Titan submarine will likely look for cracks which could signify what caused it to implode, a professor in mechanical and marine engineering has suggested.
Dr Jasper Graham-Jones, of the University of Plymouth, told The Sun that an electrical disaster may have occurred after parts of the vessel began to leak.
“This could have been an electrical catastrophe. It could have been corrosion, it could have been a fire. Any leakage of water coming through to the electrics could lead to failure as well,” he told the paper.
He added: “Some of the pipes and parts that lead outside could have begun to leak. If you have a wire going outside, then those wires going through land could actually start to leak. They could have corroded.”
While the passengers may have been aware of a very minor leak, the noise reportedly picked up by US military equipment indicates a more sudden implosion, he said.
“The crack could be brittle, or ductile, and related to fatigue and de-lamination. By scanning under an electron microscope, you can see the fatigue and confirm the speed and direction of the cracks,” he told the paper.
Titanic to ‘return to Netflix’ on 1 July
Sunday 2 July 2023 20:00 , Andrea Blanco
The 1997 blockbusterTitanic will return to Netflix in July - just weeks after a doomed expedition to the ocean liner’s resting place on the oceanfloor.
The movie, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet is returning to the streaming platform on 1 July, according to HuffPost, along nearly 100 other titles.
The Independent could not independently confirm this report, and has contacted Netflix for comment.
It is unclear whether the decision to add Titanic was made before or after the Titan submersible tragedy this week but some on social media suggested Netflix “could’ve picked a better time” and suggested that the company was seizing on the tragedy to increase viewing figures.
Others said the streaming service could be merely responding to demands from viewers.
Widow who lost husband and son to Titanic sub implosion pays tribute to 'best friends'
Sunday 2 July 2023 18:00 , Ariana Baio
The widow of a Pakistani tycoon who lost both her husband and son after their submersible imploded in the depths of the Atlantic Ocean has opened up about her grief.
Speaking at a televised memorial on Tuesday, Christine Dawood, whose husband Shahzada Dawood and 19-year-old son Suleman Dawood were among the victims, said the expedition to the Titanic meant the world for father and son, who she described as true explorers who bonded over their love for adventure.
“These two best friends embarked upon this last voyage, their final journey together,” Ms Dawood told Sky News through tears. “These past few days have been incredibly challenging as a family ... Emotions from excitement to shock to hope and finally despair and grief.”
Andrea Blanco reports:
Widow who lost husband and son to Titanic tragedy pays tribute to ‘best friends’
Most dives by the Titan sub were aborted, report says
Sunday 2 July 2023 16:10 , Andrea Blanco
The company that operated the doomed submersible which imploded in the Atlantic promised fee-paying passengers exceptional views of the Titanic’s wreck for $250,000.
But according to an in-depth report by The New York Times published on Sunday, most of the 12,000-ft dives by the Titan did not end with up-close views of the world’s most famous shipwreck.
The Times reported that more missions were aborted than accomplished.
OceanGate began taking customers on dives to the Titanic in 2021, with its late CEO Stockton Rush styling the company as an innovative intersection between research and tourism that looked to push the limits of safety.
But in the aftermath of the tragedy, which killed all five passengers including Mr Rush, several people shared experiences of their Titan dives.
Business owner Bill Price told the Times that on a 2021 dive, the sub lost its propulsion system during the descent. Although Mr Rush immediately aborted the trip, he reportedly couldn’t get a “drop-weight mechanism” to release ballast for the emergency ascent.
Everyone aboard the sub then began shifting sides, using their weight to rock the vessel until the ballast dislodged.
“After several rolls, we got momentum going,” Mr Price told the Times. “Then, we heard a clunk, and we all collectively knew one had dropped off. So we continued to do that, until the weights were all out.”
The next day, the Titan made another dive.
Head of key Titanic sub recovery team dodges question about OceanGate
Sunday 2 July 2023 16:00 , Ariana Baio
Since the Titan submersible imploded, killing five people aboard, the subject of extreme tourism has been highly debated online and by professionals.
But when the CEO of Pelagic Research Services, the company that helped oversee the recovery mission of the submersible, was asked what his thoughts were on the trips OceanGate took to the Titanic, he claimed he did not have a strong opinion.
“I don’t necessarily have an opinion on that, it’s a strong investigation going on right now,” Edward Cassano said in a press conference on Friday.
The Independent reports:
Head of key Titanic sub recovery team dodges question about OceanGate
Why we are obsessed with the missing Titan submarine, according to experts
Sunday 2 July 2023 14:00 , Ariana Baio
The search for the missing Titan submersible fully captured the world’s attention, from reports of mysterious “banging” noises to estimates of how much oxygen may have been left in the underwater vessel.
The search for the submersible captured the attention of millions, as phrases such as “Titan” and hashtags like #OceanGate dominated Twitter’s top trending and TikTok For You Pages. According to Dr Justin D’Arienzo – a clinical psychologist in Jacksonville, Florida and former US Navy psychologist – the reason the public has been so invested is down to our desire to relate to others that sustains our obsession.
“We all can relate to that feeling of being trapped somewhere or being in the water or experiencing that level of uncertainty,” he tells The Independent. “What makes it so relatable is that we all could imagine being helpless with other humans and not know what to do.”
Meredith Clark reports:
Why we are obsessed with the missing Titan submarine, according to experts
Who was Suleman Dawood?
Sunday 2 July 2023 11:00 , Ariana Baio
Suleman Dawood, 19, was a student at Strathclyde University in Glasgow.
Suelman was aboard the Titan submersible with his father, Shahzada Dawood, when it imploded on Sunday, 18 June.
Suleman was a fan of science fiction literature, according to a statement from the Dawood family.
Christine Dawood, Suleman’s mother, said the expedition to the Titanic meant the world to Shahzada and Suleman, who she described as true explorers who bonded over their love for adventure.
“These two best friends embarked upon this last voyage, their final journey together.”
Who was Shahzada Dawood?
Sunday 2 July 2023 07:00 , Ariana Baio
Shahzada Dawood, 48, was vice-chairman of one of Pakistan’s largest conglomerates, Engro Corporation, with investments in fertilisers, vehicle manufacturing, energy and digital technologies.
Mr Dawood was aboard the Titan submersible with his 19-year-old son, Suleman Dawood, when it imploded on Sunday 18, June.
Mr Dawood was interested in wildlife photography, gardening and exploring natural habitats.
Mr Dawood’s wife, Christine Dawood, said the expedition to the Titanic meant the world for Shahzada and Suleman, who she described as true explorers who bonded over their love for adventure.
“These two best friends embarked upon this last voyage, their final journey together.”
Watch: Titan submersible wreckage brought ashore after fatal implosion
Sunday 2 July 2023 04:00 , Ariana Baio
Who was Paul-Henri Nargeolet?
Sunday 2 July 2023 02:00 , Ariana Baio
French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77, was director of underwater research at a company that owns the rights to the Titanic wreck and recovers artifacts.
A former commander in the French navy, he was both a deep diver and a mine-sweeper. After retiring from the navy, he led the first recovery expedition to the Titanic in 1987 and several more, becoming a leading authority on the wreck site.
OceanGate described Mr Nargeolet as the “Titanic’s greatest explorer”.
The former naval officer was born in Chamonix, France, but spent his early years in Africa with his parents. He was married to American newsreader Michelle Marsh until she died in 2017.
He completed 35 dives in the submersible. In a 2020 interview, he spoke of the dangers of deep diving, saying: “I am not afraid to die, I think it will happen one day.”
How much did the Titan submersible search cost?
Saturday 1 July 2023 23:00 , Ariana Baio
The cost of the unprecedented search for the missing Titan submersible will easily stretch into the millions of dollars, experts said Friday.
There’s no other comparable ocean search, especially with so many countries and even commercial enterprises being involved in recent times, said Norman Polmar, a naval historian, analyst and author based in Virginia.
The aircraft, alone, are expensive to operate, and the Pentagon has put the hourly cost at tens of thousands of dollars. Turboprop P-3 Orion and jet-powered P-8 Poseidon sub hunters, along with C-130 Hercules, were all utilized in the search.
Some agencies can seek reimbursements. But the U.S. Coast Guard — whose bill alone will hit the millions of dollars — is generally prohibited by federal law from collecting reimbursement pertaining to any search or rescue service, said Stephen Koerting, a U.S. attorney in Maine who specializes in maritime law.
“The Coast Guard, as a matter of both law and policy, does not seek to recover the costs associated with search and rescue from the recipients of those services,” the Coast Guard said Friday in a statement.
How the design of the submersible could have contributed to its failure
Saturday 1 July 2023 21:00 , Ariana Baio
Several experts have said that the design of the Titan submersible may not have been as suitable as other designs when taking deep dives to the Titanic wreckage.
Chris Roman, a professor at the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography told Associated Press that the elongated shape of the Titan could have increased the external pressure.
Mr Roman said the sphere is “the perfect shape” because water pressure is equal on all sides.
The sub imploded on Sunday, 18 June with five people aboard.
That implosion could have been caused by tiny fissures in the hull of the sub, according to Jasper Graham-Jones, an associate professor of mechanical and marine engineering at the University of Plymouth.
Each time the sub went down to the Titanic, tiny cracks would have formed.
“This might be small and undetectable to start but would soon become critical and produce rapid and uncontrollable growth,” Mr Graham-Jones said.
Who was Hamish Harding?
Saturday 1 July 2023 19:00 , Ariana Baio
Hamish Harding, 58, was a British billionaire, aviation tycoon and explorer.
Mr Harding is among the five people who died on a failed submarine expedition.
“He was one of a kind and we adored him. He was a passionate explorer – whatever the terrain – who lived his life for his family, his business and for the next adventure,” a statement from Mr Harding’s family reads.
In 2021, he went on a record-setting voyage to Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench, which at 36,000 feet below sea level is the deepest part of the ocean.
“What he achieved in his lifetime was truly remarkable and if we can take any small consolation from this tragedy, it’s that we lost him doing what he loved.”
Harding also made record-breaking trips to the South Pole alongside Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the oldest person ever to reach the pole, and Harding’s son Giles, 12, the youngest to ever accomplish the feat.
What photos of the Titanic sub debris tell us about its implosion
Saturday 1 July 2023 17:00 , Ariana Baio
Images of the wreckage recovered from the Titan submersible at the bottom of the North Atlantic appear to confirm the theory that the vessel suffered a massive implosion under the pressure of the ocean.
Jonas Mureika, a professor of physics at Loyola Marymount University, tells The Independent that calling the implosion “catastrophic” is referring to the intensity and speed of what took place.
“The pressure at that depth (3.8 km) is incredibly high, about 400 times atmospheric pressure. That’s 6,000 pounds per square inch acting on the submarine – atmospheric pressure is roughly 15 pounds per square inch,” he noted in an email.
Gustaf Kilander and Andrea Blanco report:
What photos of the Titanic sub debris tell us about its implosion
Deep sea rescue company boss gets emotional describing Titan search
Saturday 1 July 2023 15:00 , Ariana Baio
Edward Cassano, Pelagic Research Services CEO, held back tears as he described the moment the Titan submersible search and rescue turned “into a recovery.”
Just hours after arriving, Pelagic Research Services found debris from the imploded sub and relayed the information to the victim’s families.
Mr Cassano was speaking to press at the conclusion of the search, when he said: “We have to apologise - there are a lot of emotions, and people are tired.”
Watch: Deep sea rescue company boss gets emotional describing Titan search
The ROV that discovered the debris
Saturday 1 July 2023 13:00 , Ariana Baio
Pelagic Research Services’s remotely-operated vehicle (ROV), Odysseus, was flown-in to the site of the Titanic wreckage to assist in the international search for any sign of the five passengers or the Titan.
Odysseus is one of the few ROVs that can reach the depths where the Titanic wreckage sits at 12,500 feet (3,700 metres). Until Odysseus was able to reach the ocean floor, the US Coast Guard and US Navy were unable to determine where the sub went or if it had surely imploded.
Titanic actor Lew Palter dies
Saturday 1 July 2023 11:00 , Ariana Baio
Lew Palter, the actor best known for his role as Isidor Straus in James Cameron’s 1997 epic Titanic, died aged 94 on 21 May.
Palter died on 21 May of lung cancer at his home in Los Angeles, his daughter, Catherine Palter, told The Hollywood Reporter.
Watch: Janet Street-Porter questions ‘morality’ of Titanic submarine tourism
Saturday 1 July 2023 09:00 , Ariana Baio
Actor who took Titanic sub reveals how it ran out of batteries mid-voyage
Saturday 1 July 2023 07:00 , Ariana Baio
A Mexican actor who last year undertook an undersea voyage on the same Titanic-bound Titan submersible that has gone missing said he was lost in the depths of the sea for two hours.
Alan Estrada said the battery of OceanGate’s Titan submersible drained mid-voyage, forcing the vessel to return to save the lives of its passengers.
The Youtuber said he secured a $125,000 excursion to see the world’s biggest shipwreck last July, after getting delayed by a year for unspecified reasons. The price, which was paid for by a sponsor for the trip, had doubled by then to $250,000.
“My biggest concern was obviously losing my life,” Mr Estrada said. “All the people who made this expedition … we are aware of the risks we are taking. It’s not a surprise.”
A spokesperson for the mothership which launched the missing submersible defended OceanGate, saying it runs an “extremely safe operation” after questions were raised about safety. The submersible Titan is run by OceanGate.
Sean Leet, co-founder and chairman of Horizon Maritime Services, which owns the Polar Prince mothership from which Titan was launched, said: “OceanGate runs an extremely safe operation.”
Inside the Titan submersible
Saturday 1 July 2023 05:00 , Ariana Baio
The vessel weighs 10,432kg in total and can travel at a maximum speed of three knots, made possible by Four Innerspace 1002 electric thrusters.
The tourists and scientists who typically ride in it are able to look out via a large viewport window, their perspective enhanced by Sub C Imaging 4k Rayfin exterior cameras that capture the surrounding marine environment in a live feed that is displayed on a large digital display.
There is little by way of comfort inside but there is a toilet, although privacy is limited because it is situated right next to the viewing window.
Most astonishingly, the craft is controlled by a generic video games controller – specifically a Logitech F710 Wireless PC Gamepad from 2011, according to gaming expert Matthew Ruddle – and, rather than using a GPS for navigation, it communicates with a tracking team aboard a surface ship, in this case the Polar Prince, via text messages.
Head of Titanic sub recovery team dodges question about OceanGate
Saturday 1 July 2023 04:00 , Ariana Baio
Since the Titan submersible imploded, killing five people aboard, the subject of extreme tourism has been highly debated online and by professionals.
But when the CEO of Pelagic Research Services, the company that helped oversee the recovery mission of the submersible, was asked what his thoughts were on the trips OceanGate took to the Titanic he claimed he did not have a strong opinion.
“I don’t necessarily have an opinion on that, it’s a strong investigation going on right now,” Edward Cassano said in a press conference on Friday.
Mr Cassano helped lead the team of people from Pelagic Research Services who used their remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to find the debris from the submersible last week.
During the press conference, he became visibly upset when speaking about the five people who died while on a trip to view the Titanic wreckage and asked people to remain respectful about the tragedy.
But despite being part of the widely-viewed search, rescue and recovery mission, Mr Cassano did not express negative thoughts on extreme tourism.
“Explorers, people who seek to be on the ocean to go to depth, it’s very compelling,” Mr Cassano said. “We certainly share those desires, our whole company is designed to support research and design at depth.”
“It was a passion and a joy for exploration,” he added.
OceanGate got $450,000 in Covid pandemic aid
Saturday 1 July 2023 02:00 , Ariana Baio
OceanGate, the company behind the ill-fated Titanic sub, received more than $450,000 in aid during the Covid pandemic.
The Washington-based company received $447,000 in loans and the government forgave it $450,074, with interest.
The Payment Protection Program loans were made through Washington Trust Bank and approved on 10 April 2020 when the company had 22 employees, according to a ProPublica database.
