US Coast Guard says ‘presumed human remains’ found in wreckage of Titan submersible
Jun 28, 2023, 3:54 PM
In this U.S. Coast Guard handout, a Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, North Carolina HC-130 Hercules airplane flies over the French research vessel, L'Atalante approximately 900 miles East of Cape Cod during the search for the 21-foot submersible, Titan, June 21, 2023 over the Atlantic Ocean. The unified command is searching for five people after the Canadian research vessel Polar Prince lost contact with their submersible during a dive to the wreck of the Titanic on June 18, 2023. (Photo by U.S. Coast Guard via Getty Images)
(Photo by U.S. Coast Guard via Getty Images)
Update 3:30 p.m.:
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) 鈥� The U.S. Coast Guard says it has likely recovered human remains from the wreckage of the Titan submersible and is bringing the evidence back to the United States. The submersible imploded last week, killing all five people on board. The vessel was on a voyage see the wreck of the Titanic.
Debris from the Titan submersible was returned to land Wednesday. The return of the debris to port in St. John鈥檚, Newfoundland and Labrador, is a key piece of the investigation into聽.
In a statement late Wednesday, the Coast Guard said it had recovered debris and evidence from the sea floor and that included what it described as presumed human remains.
鈥淚 am grateful for the coordinated international and interagency support to recover and preserve this vital evidence at extreme offshore distances and depths,鈥� U.S. Coast Guard Chief Capt. Jason Neubauer said in a statement. 鈥淭he evidence will provide investigators from several international jurisdictions with critical insights into the cause of this tragedy. There is still a substantial amount of work to be done to understand the factors that led to the catastrophic loss of the TITAN and help ensure a similar tragedy does not occur again.鈥�
More on the OceanGate Titan tragedy: The Titan submersible imploded, killing all 5 on board, the US Coast Guard says
Original Story:
Debris from the Titan submersible has been returned to land after聽聽to the wreck of the Titanic captured the world鈥檚 attention last week.
The return of the debris to port in St. John鈥檚, Newfoundland and Labrador, is a key piece of the investigation into聽, killing聽聽on board. Twisted chunks of the 22-foot submersible were unloaded at a Canadian Coast Guard pier on Wednesday.
The Canadian ship Horizon Arctic carried a remotely operated vehicle, or ROV, to search the ocean floor near the Titanic wreck for pieces of the submersible. Pelagic Research Services, a company with offices in Massachusetts and New York that owns the ROV, said on Wednesday that it has completed offshore operations.
Pelagic Research Services鈥� team is 鈥渟till on mission鈥� and cannot comment on the ongoing Titan聽, which involves several government agencies in the U.S. and Canada, said Jeff Mahoney, a spokesperson for the company.
鈥淭hey have been working around the clock now for ten days, through the physical and mental challenges of this operation, and are anxious to finish the mission and return to their loved ones,鈥� Mahoney said.
Debris from the Titan was located about 12,500 feet (3,810 meters) underwater and roughly 1,600 feet (488 meters) from the Titanic on the ocean floor, the Coast Guard said last week. The Coast Guard is leading the investigation into why the submersible imploded during its June 18 descent. Officials announced on June 22 that the submersible had imploded and all five people on board were dead.
The Coast Guard has convened a Marine Board of Investigation into the implosion. That is the highest level of investigation conducted by the Coast Guard.
One of the experts the Coast Guard consulted with during the search said analyzing the physical material of recovered debris could reveal important clues about what happened to the Titan. And there could be electronic data, said Carl Hartsfield of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
鈥淐ertainly all the instruments on any deep sea vehicle, they record data. They pass up data. So the question is, is there any data available? And I really don鈥檛 know the answer to that question,鈥� he said Monday.
Representatives for Horizon Arctic did not respond to requests for comment.
More on the OceanGate Titan tragedy: Expert: Deaths of Titanic submersible occupants probably 鈥榠nstantaneous鈥�
Coast Guard representatives declined to comment on the investigation or the return of debris to shore on Wednesday. No bodies have been recovered, though Coast Guard officials said days earlier that they were taking precautions in case they encountered human remains during the investigation.
Ocean Gate CEO and pilot Stockton Rush was 聽along with two members of a prominent Pakistani family, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood; British adventurer Hamish Harding; and Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet.
Representatives for the National Transportation Safety Board and Transportation Safety Board of Canada, which are both involved in the investigation, also declined to comment. The National Transportation Safety Board has said the Coast Guard has declared the loss of the Titan submersible to be a 鈥渕ajor marine casualty鈥� and the Coast Guard will lead the investigation.
鈥淲e are not able to provide any additional information at this time as the investigation is ongoing,鈥� said Liam MacDonald, a spokesperson for the Transportation Safety Board of Canada.
A spokesperson for the International Maritime Organization, the U.N.鈥檚 maritime agency, has said any investigative reports from the disaster would be submitted for review. Member states of the IMO can also propose changes such as stronger regulations of submersibles.
Currently, the IMO has voluntary safety guidelines for tourist submersibles which include requirements they be inspected, have emergency response plans, and have a certified pilot on board among other requirements. Any safety proposals would not likely be considered by the IMO until its next Maritime Safety Committee which begins in May 2024.
