Officials investigating the ill-fated Titan submersible are analyzing voice recordings and data from its mothership.
The objective is to shed light on the cause of the tragedy and determine if any criminal activities were involved.
Representatives from the Canadian Transportation Safety Board (TSB) recently visited the Polar Prince, the lead ship of the OceanGate Titan sub, to collect valuable information from the vessel’s voyage data recorder and other systems that may hold pertinent data. Kathy Fox, chairperson of the TSB, said that the investigation aims to understand what transpired, why, and how similar incidents can be prevented in the future, rather than assigning blame. Fox acknowledged the potential significance of voice recordings in this pursuit of answers.
Meanwhile, Royal Canadian Mounted Police Superintendent Kent Osmond said authorities are deliberating whether a criminal investigation should be launched. Osmond clarified that such an investigation would proceed only if the circumstances surrounding the incident indicate a potential violation of federal, provincial, or criminal laws.
The doomed journey of the OceanGate Expeditions’ Titan submersible began on June 18, with the mission to explore the wreckage of the Titanic in the depths of the Atlantic Ocean. The submersible carried five passengers, including two billionaires, a deep-sea explorer, the CEO and founder of the company, and a college student who was the son of one of the passengers. Sealed within the sub with 17 externally operated bolts, the passengers were estimated to have had around 96 hours of oxygen reserves upon submersion. However, contact with the submersible was lost soon after the beginning of the expedition, at a depth believed to be close to 10,000 feet.
Despite the initial hopes raised by reports of underwater noises, later determined to be unrelated to the missing crew, the US Coast Guard confirmed that debris found about 1,600 feet from the bow of the Titanic wreckage indicates a catastrophic implosion of the Titan submersible. Regrettably, the bodies of the five occupants, identified as Sulaiman Dawood, 19, Shahzada Dawood, 48, Hamish Harding, 58, Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77, and OceanGate’s CEO, Stockton Rush, 61, are unlikely to be recovered.
In 2018, the Marine Technology Society reportedly urged CEO Rush to ensure proper third-party testing of their prototypes before attempting such deep dives, prioritizing passenger safety. Allegedly, Rush declined to comply with this recommendation.
