More Than A Year After Implosion, Image Of Titan Wreckage Revealed

The Titan had suffered more than a hundred equipment problems in the two years leading up to the fatal accident, according to investigators.

An image was recently released of the wreckage of the Titan submersible, which imploded on June 18, 2023, killing five people. 

 

The image was released by the US Coast Guard during a hearing on the tragedy on Monday, at which some of the conclusions of the investigation into the case were presented.

The wreckage was found several hundred meters from where the Titanic was, in the North Atlantic Ocean.

It should be remembered that the last communication from the crew - which included the message “all right here” - was also released. 

The Titanic had suffered more than a hundred equipment problems in the two years leading up to the fatal accident, investigators revealed. 

Tony Nissen, who was hired in 2016 as OceanGate's director of engineering, testified that his relationship with CEO Stockton Rush “soured” when the Titan was being completed in early 2018 and prepared for testing. That year, the submersible was struck by lightning, Nissen said, compromising its experimental carbon fiber hull. In addition, Nissen said there was also a crack in the hull, which he didn't believe was recoverable, and so he refused to give the green light to an expedition planned for the following year. He was eventually fired. 

In the photo released yesterday, you can see the tail cone of the submersible, which broke off, at the bottom of the ocean. The wreckage was found by a remotely operated vehicle on June 22 last year. 

The expedition that ended in tragedy was organized by the maritime tourism company OceanGate Expeditions, whose CEO, Stockton Rush, was the pilot of the submarine and one of the victims of the accident, which killed a total of five people. The other victims are businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman Dawood, adventurer Hamish Harding and French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet.