The U.S. Coast Guard has confirmed the retrieval of “presumed human remains” from the debris of the OceanGate submersible, which tragically imploded on its way to the Titanic wreckage on June 18. The incident resulted in the loss of all five individuals on board.
The submersible, the Titan, was conducting a deep-sea exploration of the iconic 1912 wreckage when the tragedy struck. The Coast Guard announced plans to conduct a thorough examination of the recovered remains.
The victims of the unfortunate event included OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, 61, renowned French Titanic specialist Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77, British tycoon Hamish Harding, 58, influential Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his son Sulaiman Dawood, 19.
The world watched in anticipation as search efforts were launched for the then-missing Titan vessel before its oxygen supply was depleted. Rush, the pilot of the 22-foot submersible, had been previously noted for disregarding safety concerns while charging affluent tourists $250,000 per head for a tour of the legendary shipwreck.
The Coast Guard received seafloor debris and evidence from the site of the Titan disaster upon the arrival of the recovery ship in Canada on June 28. Onlookers watched as large portions of the twisted wreckage were hoisted ashore by a crane at the dock.
Pelagic Research Services, a U.S. company, reported its crew had worked around the clock for ten days, enduring “physical and mental challenges” to recover the wreckage. Using specialized remote-operated vehicles, the crew located the destroyed sub about 12,500 feet underwater, a few hundred feet away from the Titanic wreck.
The Coast Guard embarked on an extensive search for the remains following the devastating implosion. The U.S. military branch emphasized the importance of recovering debris from the wreckage for further analysis and testing in the hope of identifying the cause of the tragedy. The impetus behind the fatal implosion, potentially identified by a classified U.S. Navy acoustic detection system hours after the Titan started its descent, remains unknown.
