Tourist Sub Titan, made my Everett based OceanGate, deploying into the ocean before its dive to the wreckage of the Titanic
The worst fears of those in Everett and around the world were realized Thursday in the North Atlantic.
The five people onboard the OceanGate submersible called Titan are dead “On behalf of the United States Coast Guard and the entire unified command” Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger broke the during an afternoon news conference “I offer my deepest condolences to the families.”
The debris found by an ROV (remotely operated vehicle) near the wreckage of the Titanic suggests the Tourist Sub Titan imploded 2½ miles below the surface of the ocean.
Under Sea expert Paul Hankin says “We found five major pieces of debris that told us it was the remains of the Titan.”
The pieces of the puzzle also seem to suggest Titan may have imploded as far back as Sunday when communications were lost.
“This was a catastrophic implosion of the vessel” Rear Admiral Mauger told reporters in Boston “Which would have generated a significant broadband sound down there that the sonar buoys would’ve picked up.”
That also suggests an implosion was not among the sounds search teams picked up in recent days.
Retired Navy Captain Carl Hartsfield says the debris field, 1,600 feet from the Titanic, also refutes suggestions the submersible may have run into the wreckage “There’s no Titanic wreckage in that area and (it’s) consistent with the location of last communication for an implosion.”
In a statement, OceanGate – the Everett based company that built the Titan – called CEO Stockton Rush and the four other men on board “True explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world’s oceans.”
“I know there’s a lot of questions about why, how, when this happened” Rear Admirable Mauger wouldn’t speculate on the future of tighter safety standards.
“This is an incredibly unforgiving environment down there on the sea floor” he says as the search teams struggle with the likelihood, the remains of the five crew members will never be found “The debris is consistent with a catastrophic implosion of the vessel.”
It’s a lot to process as the investigation continues.
