Bodies of Titan sub victims unlikely to be found as deep sea dive firm 'completes off-shore operations'

30 June 2023, 07:23

By Kieran Kelly

@kellyjourno

The bodies of five people who were killed in a 'catastrophic implosion' on OceanGate's Titan submersible are unlikely to ever be found.

Pelagic Research Services - whose deep diving robot Odysseus 6K found Titan debris - said 'off-shore operations' had finished one week after it was announced that the victims had died in a catastrophic implosion.

Those killed include British billionaire Hamish Harding, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman.

OceanGate's CEO Stockton Rush was also on the vessel, as was French Navy veteran Paul-Henri Nargeolet.

It comes after the US Coast Guard said presumed human remains have been recovered from the Titan sub wreckage.

The US Coast Guard said in a statement: "United States medical professionals will conduct a formal analysis of presumed human remains that have been carefully recovered within the wreckage at the site of the incident."

Read More: OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush boasted of ‘expired’ materials used to build sub, passenger who almost joined says

Read More: OceanGate Expeditions is still advertising $250,000 trips to the Titanic wreckage - despite implosion that killed five

Jason Neubauer, a captain with the Marine Board of Investigation, said: "The evidence will provide investigators from several international jurisdictions with critical insights into the cause of this tragedy.

"There is still a substantial amount of work to be done to understand the factors that led to the catastrophic loss of the Titan and help ensure a similar tragedy does not occur again."

Investigators searching the debris field on Monday said they were "taking precautions" in case they discovered the passengers' bodies.

But that is now unlikely to happen with search teams called off.

An investigation into how the Titan sub imploded is expected to take place, with particular questions over the safety of the vessel.

There are also questions about Mr Rush's apparent disregard for safety, which included 'boasting' about using expired materials to build the sub that ultimately imploded.

Arnie Weissmann, editor-in-chief of Travel Weekly, was set to join the trip to see the Titanic wreckage, but pulled out due to scheduling issues.

According to the Travel Weekly editor, Rush boasted about how he had bought carbon fibre for the sub “at a big discount” because “it was past its shelf life use in airplanes”.

Speaking to the Washington Post, Mr Weissmann went on: “I responded right away, saying, 'Don’t you have any concerns about that?’

“He was very dismissive and said: 'No, it’s perfectly fine. Having all these certifications for airplanes is one thing, but the carbon fibre was perfectly sound.'"