The U.S. Coast Guard says it has recovered and transferred the remaining evidence and debris from OceanGate’s Titan submersible to a U.S. port for cataloging and analysis — nearly three months after the deep-sea implosion that killed the sub’s five crew members in the North Atlantic.
In an update issued today, the Coast Guard said the transfer was made on Oct. 4. “Additional presumed human remains were carefully recovered from within Titan’s debris and transported for analysis by U.S. medical professionals,” it said.
OceanGate was a startup headquartered in Everett, Wash. — and the company’s founder and CEO, Stockton Rush, was among the casualties. In August, OceanGate said a new CEO with tech industry experience, Gordon Gardiner, would lead the company through the investigation and the closure of operations.
Salvage teams started gathering up evidence soon after a survey conducted by remotely operated vehicles confirmed that the submersible blew apart in the midst of a dive to the Titanic shipwreck, amid the crushing pressures of the ocean’s depths. The most recent follow-up salvage mission was conducted under an existing agreement with the U.S. Navy Supervisor of Salvage and Diving.
A photo released by the Coast Guard shows engineers examining the submersible’s aft titanium endcap. The fore endcap, which was equipped with the sub’s forward-facing viewport, was brought to shore just days after the tragedy.
The Coast Guard convened a Marine Board of Investigation to look into the causes of the incident, in cooperation with the National Transportation Safety Board and its counterparts in Canada, Britain and France.
Although today’s update signaled that the at-sea recovery operation has come to an end, the investigation is still in its evidence-gathering phase. The Coast Guard said anyone wishing to provide information that could assist investigators could submit that information via email to accidentinfo@uscg.mil.
Eventually, the Marine Board of Investigation will schedule a joint evidence review of the recovered Titan debris, in preparation for a public hearing into the tragedy.
