Relatives and colleagues mourned on Friday five people who died when their submersible imploded in the North Atlantic during a deep dive to the Titanic wreck, triggering questions about safety rules for such adventures into the ocean depths.
Debris from the Titan submersible, which had been missing since Sunday, was detected on Thursday by a robotic diving vehicle deployed from a Canadian ship as part of an international rescue effort.
Remains of the submersible, which lost contact with a surface ship about 1 hour and 45 minutes into a 2-hour descent, were discovered on the seabed about 1,600 feet (488 meters) from the bow of Titanic wreck, about 2-1/2 miles (4 km) below the surface , U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger said.
He told reporters on Thursday the debris was consistent with “a catastrophic implosion of the vehicle.”
The five who died included Stockton Rush, U.S. founder and chief executive officer of OceanGate Expeditions, which operated the submersible and charged $250,000 per person to make the Titanic trip. He was piloting the craft.
The others were British billionaire and explorer Hamish Harding, 58; Pakistani-born businessman Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his 19-year-old son, Suleman, both British citizens; and French oceanographer and Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77.
Reuters
