The story of the missing Titanic submarine has no happy ending: debris has been recovered bearing the signs of a violent implosion onboard.
On Sunday, the US Navy detected a sound consistent with that of an implosion. In this context, an implosion is the sudden inward collapse of the vessel, exacerbated by the high pressure of lower ocean depths.
The Titanic wreckage sits 13,000 feet under sea level and lost contact at about 1 hour, 45 minutes into the descent (a two-hour journey total).
It is now thought the crew died instantly (before they even realized what was going on), which is arguably a much better way to go than running out of air onboard.
Search teams are continuing to look for human bodies, but do not expect to find any: but debris that has been recovered is identified as from the Titanic Explorer. Investigators are also searching for what may have caused the implosion.
June 22, 2023, 7:10 AM, ET
The five members onboard the missing Titanic explorer submarine are feared dead after the submersible’s 96-hour oxygen supply is thought to have been exhausted. Nevertheless, rescue teams from both sides of the Atlantic continue to search for the missing sub.
The five passengers onboard include:
- Shahzada Dawood, a Pakistani billionaire
- Sulaiman Dawood, his son
- Hamish Harding, a British businessman
- Paul-Henri Nargeolet, a French diver
- Stockton Rush, CEO of OceanGate
There was faint hope yesterday when banging sounds were detected, but as of 7:08 am ET, the oxygen supply is presumed to have run out.
Horizon Arctic, a Canadian vessel, was deployed to search the ocean floor. A French robot called Victor 6000 (capable of plumbing 20,000 feet under the seat) was also deployed by the rench ship L’Atalante.
While the search effort continues, it is now thought to be a recovery effort versus a rescue effort.
June 19, 2023, 6:30 PM, ET
The US Coast Guard launched a search and rescue mission seeking to locate a missing submarine that did not return from its exploration of the Titanic wreckage. Five are onboard with oxygen supplies only intended to last for up to 96 hours.
Coast Guard Working Around Clock To Locate Missing Titanic Explorer Submarine
At a news conference earlier this afternoon, Rear Admiral John Mauger laid out the following sobering facts:
- OceanGate Expeditions offers submarine tours of the Titanic wreckage at a cost of about $250,000 per passenger on an 8-day expedition
- 1 hour and 45 minutes into the submarine’s dive, the Polar Prince (ferry ship) lost contact with the vessel
- Five people are thought to be on board, including an operator and four mission specialists (passengers)
- A Coast Guard C-130 crew and Canadian P-8 Poseidon are searching for the sub about 900 miles off Cape Cod
- Sonar buoys have been deployed in the water in a further attempt to locate the missing sub
- These buoys can only listen to a depth of 13,000 feet, which is approximately the depth of the Titanic wreckage
- If the emergency system is intact and deployed, there is thought to be between 70-96 hours of oxygen onboard for the five travelers
- Even if the vessel is located, if the craft is tangled in the wreckage of the Titanic, a rescue operation may not be possible
Billionaire British businessman Hamish Harding is among the passengers onboard. Last year, Harding traveled to space onboard a Blue Origin rocket with Jeff Bezos. French submersible pilot Paul-Henry Nargeolet and Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate Expeditions, are also thought to be on board, while the identity of the other two “mission specialists” is not known.
Our thoughts and prayers are with those onboard and with the US and Canadian crews assisting in the rescue effort.
Devastating also for future deep dive ocean explorations. RIP to those involved.
The thing is, that we pretty much do have the technology down for doing these types of deep dives safely. Until now, there have been no fatalities recorded and relatively few incidents on manned dives as deep as the Titanic or even deeper. The problem is that OceanGate was using an experimental material that ignored what we have learned in the half century plus of designing deep sea subs and they refused to get it certified by those who know what they are doing.
So long as future deep sea dives are using subs made to the proper specifications, there probably won’t be the same level of risk. There could always be problems due to human error or simply lack of knowledge about what the sub is going to run into on the ocean floor, but with proper preparation and care, the risks will be far lower than diving in OceanGate’s sub.
Space, undersea, etc. all have risks and unfortunately we are seeing one occur in this case. Not sure how you count passengers as mission specialists.
I never knew this type of thing was occurring but of course I wouldn’t throw $250K into seeing a sunken Titantic.
RIP Clive Cussler. This scenario occurred in almost every Dirk Pitt novel. Praying for any possible help
Definitely need Kurt Austin and Joe Zavala right about now. They’d figure out a way to cobble together a rescue.
Dirk Pitt would have his nuclear powered undersea explorer there in a flash
In raise the titanic, he actually accomplished this type of rescue
Canada has sent an Aurora military aircraft. The P-8 is from the US.
This shows that dangerous stunts have risks. I’ve heard of travelers going to Somalia or bungee jumping. Do so and some will die.
I’ve spent my life involved in extreme sports. Not so much like this example as it’s more a “ride.” But rather training and building experience for years to take on outrageous challenges alongside nature.
Your comment is a common sentiment to those who never pushed their boundaries. The reality is far different. The fact is, especially given my rather crazed personality (and those of most of my friends who share this with me) is that time spent pushing extremes on rivers, canyons, oceans and mountains around the world is a centering and calming experience. It’s often the one thing that can get us all out of our heads. No, it’s not for everyone, but it is also not worthy of criticism as to a choice.
Yes, I’ve watched friends die on rivers and oceans. No, I refuse to say, “they died doing what they loved.” But I will say that, in the end, they would do it again if they could. There is a subset of the world that refuses to acquiesce to the sofa and the desk every day. To us, that is dying.
Hey Stuart, I hope you’re petitioning for Mondelez and Hugo Boss to not do business in the usa anymore. Both those companies are still doing business in Russia.
Or are they exempt from being called genocide supporters because you know, white skin?
Hugo Boss? At they still even around? Sorry, I’m a Cucinelli fan.
There is a difference between pushing your boundaries and being reckless.
@Matthew, it’s a submersible not a submarine.
I’ll leave it for this story but will update for future stories.
These things are always risky. Sad that lives are lost but its unfortunately going to be someone’s number at some point
Hate to say this but as a former Navy guy my strong feeling is that if they haven’t been found or located by now they’re gone likely due to a catastrophic failure. If they’re alive on the bottom with no way to surface they are beyond rescue. And if they had managed to surface they would have been found given the search assets deployed.
Eternal Father, strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who bidd’st the mighty ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep,
O hear us when we cry to thee
For those in peril on the sea!
Older I get, the less adventurous I become.
From an article on CNN: “As a safety feature, the sub uses a “proprietary real-time hull health monitoring (RTM) system” that analyzes the pressure on the vessel and the integrity of the structure, the company states. Any issues detected would trigger an “early warning” to the pilot, to leave “enough time to … safely return to the surface.” Right? If a warning is given at 13,000 ft below and it takes over 2 hours to get back I can only imagine that will do any good.
Unless it imploded and it was sudden, I can’t think of a worse way to go.
I disagree. I would like a bit of notice before dying.
A Japan Airlines 747 crashed but there was enough time for passengers to write farewell letters.
I suspect it breached and blew. I am so sorry for the families and friends of the lives lost.
I read that the hatch cannot even be opened from the inside, meaning even if the submersible had managed to surface, the passengers would still not be able to open it.
It sounds like a death trap.
Hoping the families find peace. As more details are revealed, it’s shocking anyone had the faith to attempt the voyage without an exit option.
Jeez, that sounds like a potential horror story – bobbing along peacefully on the surface, staring out at the all the fresh air with the oxygen supply slowly being depleted……
Sounds as if the “Sub” had its issues and unfortunately it may have imploded. I’m not sure why anyone would pay $250K to see the Titanic. The craft itself was pretty small. Unfortunately these accidents happen, whether it needed to happen is another story.
We can send a man to the moon, but we can’t save 5 people in a submarine. My heart is so sad.
Well, now that we know it likely imploded, that explains why we couldn’t find it (also, there aren’t many subs capable of diving to those depths so the delay was getting one there). That said, even if it hadn’t imploded, 13,000 feet deep in the ocean is pretty much as inhospitable and difficult for us to deal with as space. The necessary equipment to rescue a sub trapped at those depths doesn’t really exist.
From what I read, the charter company waited 8 hours after losing contact with the sub before contacting the Coast Guard. That’s time that could have been used to locate the sub.
These two comments from their CEO defines everything.
“When I started the business, one of the things you’ll find, there are other sub-operators out there, but they typically have gentlemen who are ex-military submariners, and you’ll see a whole bunch of 50-year-old White guys, They were not inspirational. That expertise was unnecessary because “anybody can drive the sub” with a $30 video game controller.”
“I’ve broken some rules to make this…”
Yes, the 50-year-old White guys with US Navy experience would never let him break some rules to make this.
The first quote is referring to the sub-operators piloting the Titan on dives.
The people breaking rules to MAKE the Titan were all still 50-year-old white guys.
As a white guy in his 50s I am at risk of offended by these questionable comments about 50 year old white guys.
You mean the “Old Men” that Ben at OMAAT “cringes” at?
Are you the same Stuart who was challenging Ben over his comments on the Paris Air Show’s gender diversity panel?
Yes, but don’t worry, I’ve been banned.
FWIW, I don’t always agree with you but in this case you were right to call him out. Ben was basically saying the panel lacked gender diversity, which was obvious in this context, but revealed his own bias when saying they could have also cured that with any other diversity metric. I was laughing when he said they should have a “queer person’”on the panel. How does Ben even know these four “old men” are all straight??
Sorry about the ban!
Ban is whatever…could care less and can easily post on a VPN with a different email if I wanted. I barely comment there anyway.
Yes, the entire post was filled with sloppiness and clear issues on Ben’s part. Given it was Gender diversity I think the only question was as to why there were four men and one woman. That’s a legitimate question in why not more women. But, as you said, there was no proper context, no profiles of the people on the panel, no transcripts read, he was not there, nor did he get any comment or reaction from the Paris Air Show PR department. He just saw a picture and decided to “cringe” and pass judgement. And we wonder why people get pushed to extremes in this country?
Then, in the meantime, twice referred to them as “old” men in a derogatory manner. As if that really sealed the deal for being out of touch. As if 50 something men could somehow never add commentary to a solution or discussion. It was perhaps one of the most insulting things posted that I have seen in one of these blogs.
Tired of hearing about it.
Oh noooo some dead rich white people… whatever will the world do without them…..
@Matthew, para 3 “The Titanic wreckage sits 13,000 feet under sea level and lost contact at 1 hour 45 minutes into descent…”
I believe the Titanic lost contact over 100 years ago. I suspect this should be “…and the submersible lost contact…”