It’s hard to believe that June 2025 will mark three years since the Titan submersible implosion as its doomed crew attempted to explore the wreck of the RMS Titanic in the Atlantic Ocean. Headed up by OceanGate’s American CEO Stockton Rush, and four others, they included deep sea explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, British businessman Hamish Harding, Pakistani-British businessman Shahzada Dawood, and his son, Suleman.
The Titan lost contact with its mother ship 1 hour and 33 minutes into its supposed two-hour descent.
There was a media storm, and with only 96 hours of oxygen supposedly on the Titan, there was a mad scramble to try and rescue those inside.
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An international effort saw vessels from the United States Coast Guard, Royal Canadian Air Force, and more dash to the remote part of the Atlantic Ocean, but tragically, a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) discovered a debris field on June 22, 2023.
The Titan submersible was only about 500 meters from the bow of the Titanic, with a failure of the composite pressure hull thought to be the reason behind the tragedy.
There are still many questions about what went wrong and what exactly happened in those final moments, but according to the US Coast Guard, new audio might’ve captured the submersible’s suspected ‘catastrophic implosion’.
The audio was picked up by a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) moored passive acoustic recorder that was approximately 900 miles from the incident.
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The US Coast Guard says the recorder picked up a ‘suspected acoustic signature’ on 18 June.
The Coast Guard added: “NOAA'S Ocean Noise Reference Station Network consists of thirteen passive acoustic monitoring sites deployed within the Northeastern continental United States.”
This eerie 20-second recording is thought to capture the final moments of the Titan submersible.
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In 2024, the family of Nargeolet (known as “Mr Titanic”) filed a lawsuit against OceanGate for wrongful death. The filing states: “The catastrophic implosion that claimed Nargeolet’s life was due directly to the persistent carelessness, recklessness and negligence.”
While some have theorized that death at that depth would’ve been almost instantaneous, Nargeolet’s family maintain that those onboard would’ve known that disaster was coming: “While the exact cause of failure may never be determined, experts agree that the Titan’s crew would have realized exactly what was happening.”
The Coast Guard’s investigation found that structural flaws and safety hazards hadn’t been independently reviewed before launch, which is against standard practice.
The Titan submersible tragedy continues to grip the world, with an upcoming Netflix documentary from Mark Monroe hoping to shed new light on what happened.
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Unfortunately, it looks like we’ll never truly know what went on in those final moments before all five lost their lives.