Expert surprised Titanic sub wasn't in tiny pieces even though it imploded and 'vaporised' crew
Yesterday we finally saw the first images of the Titanic submarine as it was brought ashore.
Last week a large scale search and rescue operation was launched when OceanGate's experimental vessel, the Titan, suddenly disappeared.
The tiny submersible made its descent over two miles beneath the Atlantic Ocean on Sunday (18 June), carrying five passengers on a trip down to the wreck of the Titanic.
Those five crew members were: British businessman Hamish Harding; French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet; and Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, and his son Suleman.
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Sadly, less than two hours into the journey, the sub vanished, and despite the hope that rescue teams may track them down, it later transpired that the vessel had suffered a 'catastrophic implosion' and those on board had died.
Following news that debris had been found in the search area, the US Coast Guard was able to retrieve large parts of the vessel.
The find has since surprised experts, many of who thought that given the force of the implosion there would have been little to pull out.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Tom Maddox, CEO at Underwater Investigators, said investigators were shocked by the state of the vessel.
He explained: "Many of us suspected that, in the case of this catastrophic failure, this implosion, that a lot of the parts would be disintegrated, particularly the non-titanium parts, which, of course, would make the investigation a lot harder to do.
"Although finding larger remains means investigators will have 'more pieces of the puzzle to put together'. They'll put it back as best they can.
"I don't think there's a rulebook for this, you know, there's no manual, this is something new.
"And they're going to have to kind of write the book as they go along, would be my thought, but they'll use their past experiences and their knowledge to do that."
This comes after US Coast Guard announced the discovery of what it presumes to be human remains after recovering the Titan wreck.
The US Coast Guard said medical professionals will conduct a formal analysis of the presumed remains, the discovery of which comes after officials previously noted how tough it would be to recover any of the bodies due to the 'unforgiving environment' in the depths of the ocean.
The coast guard has also convened an investigation by the Marine Board of Investigation, the highest level of investigation it conducts, to look further into the implosion of the vessel.
Coast Guard Capt. Jason Neubauer, who heads the investigative board, said the investigation aims to offer possible recommendations 'to the proper authorities to pursue civil or criminal sanctions as necessary'.
“The evidence will provide investigators from several international jurisdictions with critical insights into the cause of this tragedy,” Neubauer said in a statement on Wednesday (28 June).
A 'substantial amount of work' still needs to be done to 'understand the factors that led to the catastrophic loss of the Titan', Neubauer added, as well as to 'help ensure a similar tragedy does not occur again'.
Dominic Smithers