Titanic submersible search as it happened: Titan debris found, shows ‘catastrophic loss of pressure’, US Coast Guard says

Some interesting insights coming in just now from a former OceanGate subcontractor, who said that though the Titan had initially passed deepwater pressure testing, the longevity of the vessel could be called into question.

Dough Virnig, while praising the innovation of OceanGate and its founder Stockton Rush, conceded the company’s approach to its technology did not necessarily reflect “tried and true methods.”

Here’s some of what he told CNN earlier:

“They created a pressure hold and took it to Woods Hole [Oceanographic] Institute, and subjected it to the pressures that you would find at depth where Titanic is, and it passed. But then the question is, if you do that repeatedly, then what happens? So, these are the sorts of questions that if you have a long research and development program, you start answering. But if you really are pushing the envelope, there’s no time...you’re answering those questions in real time.”

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is an independent non-profit organisation dedicated to ocean research, exploration, and education.

Here’s a must-read from North America correspondent Farrah Tomazin, taking you inside the Titan tragedy and explaining how, much like the fated 1912 Titanic, the captain of the submersible ignored the warning signs.

“Perhaps therein lies part of the tragedy. Just as the Titanic disaster of 1912 involved repeatedly ignoring telegrams about icebergs ahead, the Titan disaster of 2023 involved a company pushing to achieve its ambitions despite the warnings of others,” Farrah writes.

Examine the week that was, the company behind the Titan submersible and the lucrative industry of “risk tourism” supporting expeditions of its kind in her piece.

In this comment piece, Margot Saville explores the “ghoulish” nature of the world’s fascination with the failed Titan undersea expedition and its catastrophic implosion.

She writes: “The five people onboard the Titan have been declared dead. For the past three days, the world’s been glued to the story of these men inside the tiny submersible, awaiting their fate. It reminded me of when the world held its breath as the early astronauts endured radio silence on the dark side of the moon or re-entering the earth’s atmosphere. What would become of them?

“Some news outlets had an oxygen countdown in their stories, just so you could feel the march to oblivion in real time – is that close enough for you? In any event, it turns out they were all wrong and the sub had imploded almost two hours into the descent.”

You can read her piece here.

Why is the pressure so extreme in the deep sea? What could have caused the implosion? How does atmospheric pressure changes as you go further underwater? And what does extreme pressure do to a can of soft drink?

These questions and more are answered in this helpful explainer from the Herald’s science reporter Angus Dalton and national science reporter Liam Mannix.

They write: “A catastrophic implosion of the kind that destroyed the Titan is ‘a phenomenon where, basically, you are crushing a pressure vessel from the outside. It results in the instantaneous implosion of that vessel, killing everyone within 20 milliseconds’.”

Officials have warned they may never be able to recover the bodies of the five people killed on the Titan expedition.

The pilot and four passengers of the missing Titan submersible are confirmed dead after the tail cone of the vessel was found almost 500 metres from the bow of the Titanic wreckage on Thursday.

A spokesman for the US Coast Guard said he could not say what the prospects were of finding the remains of Stockton Rush, Hamish Harding, Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman Dawood, and Paul-Henri Nargeolet.

“This is an incredibly unforgiving environment down there on the sea floor and the debris is consistent with a catastrophic implosion of the vessel,” Rear Admiral John Mauger said.

“And so we’ll continue to work and continue to search the area down there, but I don’t have an answer for prospects at this time.”

Telegraph, London

Hello, I’m Lucy Cormack, thank you for staying with our ongoing coverage of the Titan submersible, which we now know succumbed to a catastrophic implosion early in its descent to the Titanic wreckage 3800 metres below sea level.

A quick check-in of today’s developments so far:

• The vessel suffered a catastrophic implosion, killing all five aboard, sometime this week after it submerged on Sunday. A senior military official said a US Navy acoustic system detected an “anomaly” on Sunday that was likely the fatal implosion.
• The US Coast Guard will continue searching near the Titanic for more clues about what happened to the Titan. There is no timeframe for when they will call off the massive international search.
• The company behind the Titan, OceanGate, said the deceased were “true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world’s oceans”.
• OceanGate may face lawsuits even if passengers signed liability waivers. It is not uncommon for judges to reject them if there is evidence of gross negligence or hazards that were not fully disclosed, Reuters said.
• Director James Cameron has spoken to American television network ABC, saying he was “struck” by the similarity of the Titan to the Titanic.

I hope you can stay with us.