The U.S. Coast Guard says it plans to recover debris from OceanGate’s Titan submersible, which was lost along with its crew during a dive to the Titanic shipwreck, as part of its investigation into the catastrophe.
“At this time, the priority of the investigation is to recover items from the seafloor,” Capt. Jason Neubauer, who is leading the marine board of investigation, said today during a Boston news briefing.
Debris from the submersible lies about 12,500 feet beneath the surface of the North Atlantic Ocean, about 400 miles from the Newfoundland coast and only about 1,600 feet from the Titanic’s bow. The sub, built by Everett, Wash.-based OceanGate, was on its way to the world’s best-known shipwreck when it lost contact with its support ship a week ago.
An international search-and-rescue operation made use of remotely operated vehicles to find debris from the Titan sub on Thursday. ROVs also will be used to recover wreckage from Titan. “I’m not going to give the details of what the recovery has been to date, but the resources are on site and capable of recovering the debris,” Neubauer told reporters.
The National Transportation Safety Board and its counterparts in Canada, Britain and France are working with the Coast Guard on the investigation.
Neubauer said the nature of the evidence would not be discussed as it was being collected, out of respect for the families of the five crew members who were lost as well as for the various agencies participating in the investigation. The Coast Guard is in communication with the families, and Neubauer said the recovery team was “taking all precautions on site if we are to encounter any human remains.”
The crew members included OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush; veteran Titanic diver PH Nargeolet; British aerospace executive Hamish Harding; and Pakistani business executive Shahzana Dawood and his son, Suleman.
When the pieces of debris from Titan were found on Thursday, the Coast Guard said the crew died due to the catastrophic implosion of the submersible’s hull — and the causes of that implosion are likely to become key issues in the investigation.
In addition to recovering debris, investigators are interviewing crew members who were on the Polar Prince, the support ship that was used for the dive. Those witnesses are being interviewed in St. John’s, Newfoundland.
Neubauer declined to give a timeline for the investigation.
After the evidence is collected, the case would be reviewed during public hearings, and a final report would be delivered to the commandant of the Coast Guard, Neubauer said. That report would include the investigators’ findings, as well as recommendations for further civil and criminal action as well as for regulatory changes “to prevent a similar occurrence,” Neubauer said.
“Any subsequent enforcement activities would be pursued under a separate investigation,” he said.
No matter what the investigation finds, the Coast Guard will continue to provide search and rescue to those in trouble at sea at no charge to those rescued, Coast Guard Rear Adm. John Mauger said.
“As a matter of U.S. law and Coast Guard policy, the Coast Guard doesn’t charge for search and rescue, nor do we associate a cost with human life,” he told reporters. “We always answer the call.”
