In June of 2023, an OceanGate-owned Titan Submersible tragically imploded. The dive was meant to provide passengers with an exceptional glimpse of the Titanic wreckage. The incident resulted in the deaths of all five on board, including Stockton Rush, the founder and CEO of OceanGate. The submersible had reached a depth of around 3,300 m. This unnecessary error triggered a series of events that ultimately led to a catastrophic loss of life.
In fact, on the fateful day, Titan started its descent sixty minutes before the implosion was supposed to happen. According to eyewitness accounts from the Polar Prince mother ship, it was that realization that made it a very chilling moment. Moments before calamity, Wendy Rush, Stockton Rush’s spouse, recalled hearing a light crackling noise akin to a car door shutting. Approximately six seconds after sending a message about dropping weights to adjust its buoyancy, contact was abruptly lost with the Titan.
For instance, notice that the targeted message on weight drop likely went out immediately before the rocket was imploded. A communication delay meant the support vessel didn’t get the information in time. By the time it did arrive, the worst had already occurred in this preventable catastrophe. This turn of events made for a complex immediate response effort in the days after losing contact.
In a shocking new release, the U.S. Coast Guard’s Marine Board of Investigation released underwater footage showing the audible sound made as the Titan imploded. The unified command launched an extensive search and rescue mission shortly after Polar Prince lost contact with Titan in remote waters located several hundred miles southeast of Newfoundland. In the weeklong search efforts that gripped the world, authorities scanned the Atlantic Ocean for the missing submersible and its crew.
The wreckage of Titan was eventually found on the seafloor of the North Atlantic Ocean. It sits only a few hundred yards away from the grave site of that ship, the Titanic. This tragic discovery brought to a close a massive multi-day search and rescue effort. It raised a lot of questions related to safety protocols and operational procedures for deep-sea explorations.
