Titanic Submersible Wreckage Salvaged from Ocean

Parts of the wreckage of the OceanGate submersible used to take tourists to view the Titanic, was recovered on Wednesday.

The submersible went missing last week leading to a prolonged search. However, after the debris of the vessel was discovered, it was determined that the submersible had suffered a “catastrophic implosion” and the search and rescue mission was called off.

All five passengers in the submersible, which was dubbed Titan, were killed during the ill-fated deepsea voyage. The debris field was found below the bow of the RMS Titanic, which itself sank in 1912, leading to the deaths of over 1,500 people.

Wreckage of Titanic Submersible recovered

On Wednesday, images emerged in the media of the wreckage being unloaded from the Horizon Arctic ship in St John’s, Canada. Metal parts from the sea vessel were seen covered in tarps before they were loaded by a crane onto trucks.

Officials from the US Coast Guard stated that the submersible’s landing frame and rear cover were located among the debris field.

The construction of the submersible involved the use of two titanium end caps, with a carbon fiber cylinder positioned between them. Both of the caps appear to have been recovered from the debris field. Also among the recovered items were the sub’s porthole, which was missing its window, as well as the landing legs and the end equipment bay.

The disaster

Last Thursday, the US Coast Guard confirmed during a press conference that all five passengers of the missing submersible had died after a debris field from the vessel was discovered near the wreckage of the Titanic.

The search and rescue operation began on Monday, June 19, when the Boston Coastguard said that a submersible used to take tourists to the submerged wreckage of the Titanic had gone missing.

A media storm accompanied the search for the missing submersible until it was finally confirmed that all of the occupants on board had been killed. Commenting on the media frenzy, Former US President Barack Obama highlighted uncomfortable parallels between the media coverage surrounding the Titanic sub and the migrant boat disaster off Greece last week.

Among the five dead is Stockton Rush, the CEO, and founder of OceanGate. Rush was not only running the expedition but was the pilot of the missing submersible.

The other passengers were Hamish Harding, the chairman of Action Aviation; Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood; and Paul-Henri Nargeolet, a Titanic expert and explorer.

In the aftermath of the incident, the Titanic International Society (TIS), a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the history of the Titanic, said that “it is time to consider seriously whether human trips to Titanic’s wreck should end in the name of safety”.