By Natalie Hartley
On Friday, the 16th of June, The Titan submersible set off on its expedition from Canada. It was a submersible that was designed to bring five people to 4,000 metre depths for data collection, testing of hardware and software at such deep levels and to inspect the site.
One of the occupants, Mr Stockton Rush, was the CEO of OceanGate. His company was founded in 2009, which gave once-in-a-lifetime opportunities for customers to experience deep sea travel. In 2021, Mr Rush and his company began to offer trips to see the wreckage site of the Titanic. This sparked instant interest from mainstream news sources. The price for such a journey, though, was high, set at $250,000 USD or £195,600. This journey offered to give the passengers a close-up view of the infamous ship’s remains.
It had five occupants on the 16th of June: Hamish Harding, Shahzada Dawood and Suleman, his son, Paul-Henry Nargeolet and Stockton Rush.
Hamish Harding was a British explorer, who had visited the South Pole many times. One time even with Buzz Aldrin, the former astronaut. He held three Guinness World records, for example, the fastest circumnavigation that passed through both poles in an aeroplane. He told the BBC that the Titanic dive was supposed to happen in June the previous year but had been delayed because it was ‘damaged on its previous dive.’
Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood travelled together on the submersible. Shahzada Dawood worked with his family’s foundation and also the SETI Institute, which looks for extraterrestrial life. He came from one of the richest families in Pakistan and was the vice-chairman of the Engro Corporation in Pakistan. He was interested in ‘exploring different natural habitats,’ said his family when asked by the BBC. According to Suleman’s aunt, Suleman was ‘terrified’ about the dive but wished to make his dad happy. The teenager was described as a ‘fan of science fiction’ and ‘learning new things’.
Paul-Henry Nargeolet was previously a French Navy diver, who was nicknamed Mr Titanic. Mr Nargeolet. As stated by his company profile, he watched over the recovery of thousands of artefacts from the Titanic. His family’s spokesman said to Reuters that Mr Nargeolet was the ‘world specialist on the Titanic, its conception [and] the shipwreck.’
On the 17th of June, a final Facebook post was sent from Hamish Harding. He announced that, ‘[they were] going to attempt a dive tomorrow.’ The submersible started its descent at 8am EST on the 18th of June, which is four hours later than planned, as said by the US Coast Guard. An hour and forty-five minutes after the submersible started its descent, contact was lost between the Titan and the vessel on the surface of the ocean. The Titan submersible was due to return to the surface at 3pm EST, but it did not appear.
On the 19th, ships and planes from both the US and Canada gathered around the area. It was estimated that the Titan submersible had between 70 to 96 hours of oxygen left. On the 21st of June, the US Coast Guard said that the Canadian P-3 aircraft had heard underwater noises. These noises were considered ambiguous and were sent to the US Navy experts for analysis. On the 22nd of June, the estimated oxygen in the submersible ran out at 6am EST. Officials say that a debris field was found nearby the Titanic, which contained pieces of the Titan submersible. The remains were consistent with an implosion and the pressure chamber being lost. No survivors would have made it out. There are tributes being paid to the men who died on the Titan submersible.
The BBC has seen emails that show concerns about the safety of the Titan sub in 2018. These concerns were dismissed by Mr Rush. Several other experts in this industry have additionally raised questions about the implosion. It has been revealed that the US Navy at first detected ‘an acoustic anomaly consistent with an implosion’ on Sunday, which was soon after the Titan could not be contacted anymore. The Transportation Safety Board in Canada has announced that it is launching an investigation about the Titan submersible’s implosion that left all of the occupants dead.