Featured Image Credit: US Coast Guard / David Ryder / Stringer / Getty
One of the last messages from the crew of the Titan submersible before it tragically imploded has been revealed.
According to investigators with The US Coast Guard, the communication between the Titan and its support ship was the final exchange before contact was lost for good.
At the hearing, where the last details were shared, they also showed an image of the deep-sea vessel for the first time.
Taken by a remotely operated vehicle, the tail of Titan can be seen resting on the ocean floor after the implosion took place.
Advert
The deep-sea sub was less than two hours into its dive towards the Titanic wreck when it imploded in June 2023, setting off a worldwide debate about the potential future of private undersea exploration.
The disaster claimed the lives of British explorer Hamish Harding, father and son Shahzada and Suleman Dawood, OceanGate Expeditions' chief executive Stockton Rush, and French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet.
Shahzada Dawood was a London-based businessman and adviser to the King’s charity Prince’s Trust International, focusing on projects in Pakistan.
His 19-year-old son was a student at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow.
The crew onboard had been communicating with the staff on its mothership Polar Prince - the craft that launched Titan - through text messages.
According to the hearing in Charleston County, South Carolina, one of the final messages from the vessel's five-person crew was: “All good here.”
The final message was sent at 10:47 am local time, when the sub was at a depth of 3,346 metres, stating that it had released two weights.
After that, all communication was lost.
All that followed were repeated questions from the Polar Prince asking about the sub’s depth and weight during its descent.
The aim of the hearing is to 'uncover the facts surrounding the incident and develop recommendations to prevent similar tragedies in the future', the Coast Guard said in a previous statement.
This investigation is the highest level of marine accident review that the Coast Guard conducts.
When the hearing concludes, findings and recommendations will be submitted to the coast guard’s commandant.
OceanGate, the manufacturer behind the craft, has previously faced scrutiny over its design decisions, safety practices and regulations compliance.
“There are no words to ease the loss endured by the families impacted by this tragic incident,” said Jason Neubauer of the Coast Guard Office of Investigations.
“But we hope that this hearing will help shed light on the cause of the tragedy and prevent anything like this from happening again.”
