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Final message from doomed Titan sub revealed

It was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime, a chance to explore the Atlantic depths and visit the wreck of the Titanic. But last year, a dive by OceanGate's Titan submersible went horribly wrong when the vessel imploded as it neared the sea floor, killing all five people onboard. Now, the US Coast Guard has revealed the final words communicated by the crew, on the first day of what will be a two week hearing examining why the disaster occured. A visual animation of the Titan journey before it imploded was revealed, and one image showed the final words from the crew to those on the support ship Polar Prince. "All good here," they said. The audio became more spotty as the vessel descended, with the Polar Prince asking if they could see the Titanic on their on-board display. The Titan was reportedly still able to send one message an hour-and-a-half into it's journey saying they “dropped two wts” before they were pinged for a final time at a depth of 3,346m. There was no communication between the Titan and the Polar Prince that indicated any trouble or emergency on board the sub. It was only when there was no response to their repeated attempts of communication when they realised that the worst had happened. US authorities said a “catastrophic implosion” occurred, killing all on board instantly. On board the Titan were British explorer Hamish Harding, British-Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, OceanGate’s CEO Stockton Rush and French deep-sea explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet. The US Coast Guard also revealed the first image of the Titan sub after it imploded, which showed the vessel's tail cone eerily resting on the ocean floor. Four days after the Titan vanished, the vessel's wreckage was found about 500 metres from the bow of the Titanic, and a few months later, divers found human remains among debris. It was also revealed that OceanGate was plagued with equipment problems years before the disaster, and they even fired an engineering director who would not approve a deep sea expedition, according to a testimony at the hearing. Investigators said in 2018 the vessel was struck by lightning which left “significant blow to the structure” and caused it to fail a test by a wide margin. Less than two weeks before the ill-fated voyage, the Titan was tested and found "partially sunk". According to the testimony, Rush, the OceanGate CEO onboard the sub, had "no desire" to gain certification or meet regulatory standards for the vessel. Two dozen witnesses will testify before the board over the next two weeks. Images: OceanGate Expeditions

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Surprising cause of death revealed for missing Titan sub crew

The five trapped passengers on the missing Titan submersible are believed to be dead after searchers discovered a “debris field” on the ocean floor. The debris found is consistent with a “catastrophic implosion” of the Titan, US Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger said. The first significant piece of debris found was the tail cone of the Titan — located about 487m from the bow of the Titanic. “In consultation with experts from within the unified command, the debris is consistent with a catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber,” Mauger said. Five pieces of debris were discovered by authorities. Undersea expert Paul Hankin said discovering the front bell of the Titan’s pressure hull within the debris field was the first sign of a “catastrophic event”. The Titan <a href="https://www.oversixty.co.nz/news/news/search-underway-for-tourists-missing-on-titanic-submarine" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lost communication</a> with its support ship just one hour and 45 minutes into its descent to the Titanic wreckage. Mauger said in the early stages it’s difficult to tell how soon after losing contact the submersible was likely to have imploded. He also said investigations of the debris field will continue as they search for answers as to how, why, and when the implosion occured. “I will just remind everybody this is something that happened in a remote portion of the ocean with people from several different countries around the world, so it is a complex case to work through,” he said. OceanGate Expeditions, the company that operated the Titanic-bound submersible, said on June 22 — four days after the dive commenced — that it believed all five people on board are dead. “We now believe that our CEO Stockton Rush, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood, Hamish Harding, and Paul-Henri Nargeolet, have sadly been lost,” OceanGate said. “These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world’s oceans. “Our hearts are with these five souls and every member of their families during this tragic time. We grieve the loss of life and joy they brought to everyone they knew.” Mauger added he hoped the discovery of the debris gave the passenger's families some “solace during this difficult time”. “I offer my deepest condolences to the families, I can only imagine what this has been like for them.” Two of the Titanic-bound passengers Harding and Nargeolet were both members of international organisation The Explorer’s Club. Following the company’s announcement that those on board are presumably deceased, Club president Richard Garriott de Cayeux said, “Our hearts are broken”. “Hamish Harding is a dear friend to me personally and to The Explorers Club. Paul-Henri Nargeolet was elected to the Club in 2001 and was one of the foremost experts on submersible expeditions to the Titanic. “They were both drawn to explore, like so many of us, and did so in the name of meaningful science for the betterment of mankind.” Garriott de Cayeux also said that OceanGate chief executive Rush had conducted lectures at the Club’s headquarters in New York City. “Their memories will be a blessing and will continue to inspire us in the name of science and exploration.” Miawpukek Horizon Maritime Services, a co-owner of the Polar Prince — the Titan’s support vessel that was first to notify authorities it had lost communication with the sub — offered condolences to the passenger's families. “We are saddened by today’s tragic news as we have continued to work towards and hold out hope for their safe return,” it said. The University of Strathclyde in Glasgow confirmed that 19-year-old Suleman Dawood was a student. “To the Strathclyde community, I write to you with a heavy heart to share the news that one of our students, Suleman Dawood, is a passenger on board the submersible that is missing in the North Atlantic,” the university said. “Suleman is a Strathclyde Business School student and has just completed his first year with us.” The University has not yet commenced after the news of Suleman’s death. Image credit: Getty

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Eerie link between OceanGate pilot and Titanic disaster

A chilling link has been discovered between pilot Stockton Rush, who was onboard the OceanGate submersible, and the Titanic disaster in 1912. Mr Rush, who was at the helm of the vehicle bound for the Titanic wreckage, has a personal connection to two of the victims who were onboard the Titanic when it sank over 100 years ago. His wife, Wendy Rush, is the great-great-granddaughter of Isador Straus, who co-founded Macy’s department store, and Ida Straus, who were among the wealthiest people aboard the Titanic’s ill-fated transatlantic voyage, according to archived records obtained by the New York Times. The Strauses have long been remembered for their display of love and affection when the ocean liner hit the iceberg before infamously sinking in the North Atlantic, claiming the lives of more than 1500 people. Survivors of the disaster reported seeing Ida refuse a place on the lifeboats, which were reserved largely for women and children, and decided to stay onboard the sinking vessel with her husband of more than 40 years. Their tragic love story was depicted in James Cameron’s fictionalised version of the tragedy, his 1997 blockbuster Titanic, which features a scene showing an elderly couple holding on to each other in bed as waters rise around them. Wendy Rush is descended from one of the couple’s daughters, Minnie Strauss, who married Dr. Richard Weil in 1905, and their son, Richard Weil Jr., served as president of Macy’s New York, His son, Dr. Richard Weil III, is Wendy Rush’s father, Joan Adler, the executive director of the Straus Historical Society. Isador’s body was found at sea weeks after the Titanic sank, but his wife’s body was never recovered. Wendy also worked for OceanGate as their communications director, with her LinkedIn indicating she had been on several trips to the wreckage of the Titanic herself. The OceanGate submersible <a href="https://oversixty.co.nz/news/news/surprising-cause-of-death-revealed-for-missing-titan-sub-crew" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly imploded</a> hours after it went missing, with all five people on board believed to be dead. Image credits: OceanGate / Wikimedia

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Final message from doomed Titan sub revealed

Surprising cause of death revealed for missing Titan sub crew

Eerie link between OceanGate pilot and Titanic disaster