The recent OceanGate expedition to the Titanic ended in tragedy. The five-man crew that descended beneath the waves some 350 miles off the coast of Newfoundland to view the wreckage of the Titanic has been lost. All five men were killed instantly by the implosion. The trip is part of a package with a quarter-million-dollar price tag.
The Titan submersible vanished on Sunday, and there was a mad scramble to locate the craft, which had 96 hours of life support. On Tuesday night, banging noises were detected on sonar, which initially seemed promising, but they couldn’t locate the craft. They knew where these noises emanated from, where the submersible disappeared, but the depths, the pressure, and the lack of sunlight remained obstacles to the rescue.
NEW: OceanGate releases a statement on missing submarine:
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) June 22, 2023
"We now believe that our CEO Stockton Rush, Shahzada Dawood, and his son Suleman Dawood, Hamish Harding, and Paul Henry Nargeolet have sadly been lost...These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of… pic.twitter.com/OQriL9eNym
The Titan ran out of oxygen at 7 am EST on Thursday, but a debris field was discovered prior, showing pieces of the sub, and what many had speculated before: that the seacraft imploded. The Titan was reportedly the only five-person seacraft that could make the journey. Now, US Navy officials have come forward saying they detected an anomaly on Sunday, which they conclude was the destruction of the submersible. The Navy also said that the noises detected on Tuesday night were “natural ocean sounds” or “biological noises” (via ABC News):
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A senior U.S. Navy official confirmed to ABC News that an underwater acoustic detection system heard on Sunday what was likely the implosion of the Titan submersible. The information was immediately shared with the U.S. Coast Guard on Sunday and analysis continued afterwards.
"The U.S. Navy conducted an analysis of acoustic data and detected an anomaly consistent with an implosion or explosion in the general vicinity of where the Titan submersible was operating when communications were lost," the senior official told ABC News in a statement. "While not definitive, this information was immediately shared with the Incident Commander to assist with the ongoing search and rescue mission."
According to the official, "This information was considered with the compilation of additional acoustic data provided by other partners and the decision was made to continue our mission as a search and rescue and make every effort to save the lives on board.”
Separately, a U.S. defense official said an analysis of the “banging” noises picked up by sonar buoys were not from the missing submersible but were either natural ocean sounds, biological noises or noises associated with the surface response vessels.
So, they knew since Sunday, which I’m sure many authorities and experts in this field probably guessed but didn’t want to say. One thing that struck me as odd is why this craft didn’t have an emergency distress beacon (via USA Today):
A CBS reporter who last year rode the Titan submersible that vanished off the coast of Canada this week with five people inside told USA TODAY parts of the vessel seemed "less sophisticated" and described the safety features meant to avoid a crisis like the one it's currently facing.
"I was anticipating a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I got it," CBS correspondent David Pogue told USA TODAY's "5 Things" podcast.
Pogue boarded submersible for a CBS report that aired in November alongside OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, who is among the five missing passengers on the voyage to tour the wreckage of the Titanic.
Pogue's account has drawn attention not just because it's a rare first-hand look at the experience of being in a submersible, but because of the snags it hit along the way. Pogue told USA TODAY on Tuesday afternoon that the Titan got "lost" for a few hours and couldn't find the wreckage of the Titanic during one of the dives on that trip, but unlike the current situation, it never lost all communication with crews on the surface.
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“This submersible does not have any kind of beacon like that. On my expedition last summer, they did indeed get lost for about 5 hours, and adding such a beacon was discussed,” Pogue tweeted. “They could still send short texts to the sub, but did not know where it was. It was quiet and very tense, and they shut off the ship’s internet to prevent us from tweeting.”
I’m sure more about the reported safety issues will be expounded upon by the press in the coming days.
‘Titanic’ director James Cameron on the ‘catastrophic implosion’ of Titan submersible: “I’m struck by the similarity of the Titanic disaster itself, where the captain was repeatedly warned about ice ahead of his ship and yet he steamed at full speed into an ice field." pic.twitter.com/vO8JkCXS5f
— ABC News (@ABC) June 22, 2023
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