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Coast Guard recovers Titan sub wreckage and more ‘presumed human remains’

By
Katherine Donlevy
Published Oct. 10, 2023, 6:13 p.m. ET
First look at doomed Titan submersible as it’s hauled ashore in Canada on June 28, 2023
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Additional “presumed human remains” and the final pieces of the doomed Titan submersible were plucked from the depths of the Atlantic Ocean last week, officials announced Tuesday.

Marine safety engineers for the US Coast Guard recovered several parts of the wreckage, including the 22-foot vessel’s intact titanium endcap, from the ocean floor Wednesday.

The artifacts were located roughly 1,600 feet from the Titanic, the submersible’s destination when it imploded in June, killing all five passengers on board.

“Additional presumed human remains were carefully recovered from within Titan’s debris and transported for analysis by US medical professionals,” the Coast Guard said in a statement.

The salvage mission was the second, and likely final, to the watery grave. Other human remains and pieces of the Titan were recovered 10 days after it imploded on June 18.

Coast Guard engineers look at recovered piece of Titan.
Coast Guard engineers recovered remaining bits of debris, including the Titan’s intact titanium endcap. U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters
File photo the Titan submersible.
“Presumed human remains” were discovered inside the recovered debris. Becky Kagan Schott / OceanGate Expeditions
Debris from the Titan submersible, recovered from the ocean floor near the wreck of the Titanic.
The second salvage mission was a follow-up to the initial effort in June, just days after the disaster. AP

Officials will investigate the debris and other evidence found on the previous recovery mission ahead of an anticipated public hearing on the tragedy.

Investigators believe the Titan imploded just 1 hour and 45 minutes into its dive to the wreck of the Titanic — as it reached a depth of around 12,000 feet under the sea.

The five victims were OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, 61, French Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77, British billionaire Hamish Harding, 58, prominent Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his 19-year-old son, Sulaiman Dawood.

This photo provided by Travel Weekly shows OceanGate Expeditions CEO Stockton Rush on May 27, 2023.
OceanGate Expeditions CEO Stockton Rush was piloting the vessel when it imploded, killing him and his four passengers. Arnie Weissmann/Travel Weekly via AP

Harding, Dawood and his son had paid up to $250,000 each per ticket to see the infamous wreck on the trip.

Before the site of the wreck was discovered, a frantic international search effort was mounted for the missing sub, with rescuers racing against time to get to the vehicle before it ran out of oxygen. 

Rush, who was piloting the Titan, has since faced scrutiny for seemingly ignoring major safety concerns on previous deep-sea voyages.

The Titan’s carbon-fiber hull has also come under criticism for not being resilient enough to undergo numerous dives, as the Titan had. OceanGate has since gone out of business.