Titanic submarine Titan's ‘catastrophic implosion' puts an end to multinational voyage to century-old shipwreck

After a four day long international race against time to rescue the five people on board the Titanic sub, the US Coast Guard has confirmed that all five people on board were killed after Titan experienced a “catastrophic implosion”. The confirmation marked a poignant end to the exploratory mission and raised serious questions about safety protocols in high-risk adventure tourism.

The USCG service confirmed that it had found pieces of debris and wreckage from the Titan submersible on the ocean floor, approximately 12,500 ft below the surface of the water. Officials from the USCG stated that the debris found was “consistent with a catastrophic implosion of the vessel.”

Coast Guard holds press briefing about discovery of debris belonging to the 21-ft submersible, Titan. #Titanic https://t.co/aPSeEaBuG8

— USCGNortheast (@USCGNortheast) June 22, 2023

5 fragments of Titanic sub found

US Coast Guard's Rear Admiral John Mauger confirmed that the parts of the Titan were found at a distance of 1,600 ft from the wreck of the R.M.S. Titanic itself. Upon evaluation, experts were able to identify the front and end parts of the pressure hull of the submersible, the landing frame, the nose cone, and the rear cover of the vehicle. The five fragments indicated that the Titan had suffered an implosion event from the immense pressure of the ocean and was essentially destroyed in an instant. The pressure hull is one of the most significant parts of the submersible, as it is designed to withstand immense pressure when diving deep underwater. 

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Admiral Mauger added that the Coast Guard was not yet able to establish when exactly the implosion occurred. The Titan had lost contact with its support ship, the Canadian research ship Polar Prince, just 105 minutes after starting its descent towards the Titanic wreck. 

“I know there’s a lot of questions about how, why, when this happened. That’s going to be the focus of future review,” added Admiral Mauger.

It is so far unclear as to what exactly caused the implosion but at the depths that the Titan submersible was travelling to, even a single minor defect could cause such a devastating accident. Though a Coast Guard expert did say that the location of the submersible suggested that the implosion did not result from a collision with the wreck of the Titanic. For every 10 metres of water depth, the pressure on an object increases by the same amount as the surface pressure on ground level. At the ocean floor near the Titanic’s wreckage, the water pressure would be 380x as much as the surface pressure. 

Sonar noises detect sound consistent with Titanic sub implosion 

Despite hopeful underwater noises initially picked up during the search, no connection was found to the submersible's location. Analysis of acoustic data indicated an anomaly consistent with an implosion or explosion near the submersible's location. 

However, the US Navy detected sounds "consistent with an implosion", officials told several media outlets. The navy managed to detect the sounds using what is believed to be its secretive long-range sonar listening system that was first developed during the Cold War to listen in for enemy nuclear submarines. While the information was not definitive, it was shared with the Coast Guard which decided to continue the search for more definitive answers. 

Who were onboard the Titan sub

The Titan, a deep-sea submersible owned and operated by OceanGate Expeditions, was carrying five individuals, including OceanGate's CEO Stockton Rush. The purpose of the mission was to explore the Titanic's century-old wreckage. The other crew members included British adventurer Hamish Harding, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, and renowned Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet.