Titanic Sub Latest: Twisted Remains Seen on New Map
This was just one of many expeditions that never reached the wreckage.
As more time passes since the devastating implosion of OceanGate, the private submersible that disappeared during a trip deep into the ocean to explore the wreckage of the Titanic, more information continues trickling in about all the signs that the Titan was destined for doom. On June 18, 2023, the small submarine started descending thousands of feet toward the ship's wreckage, but imploded and killed all passengers aboard – British businessman Hamish Harding; Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his teenage son, Suleman; French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet; and Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate – shortly after leaving the mother ship. However, according to a new report, this was just one of many expeditions that never reached the wreckage. And its twisted remains have just been noted on a new map. Keep reading to learn about it.
The company that possesses the exclusive salvage rights to the Titanic shipwreck and the ship's artifacts filed in federal court on Saturday a map of the surrounding seabed that shows where searchers found the twisted remains of the Titan submersible," reports the New York Times. "The map in the company's filing displays a large dotted circle, labeled 'Titan Debris Field,' in an area off to the right, or starboard side, of Titanic's intact bow section. The map gives no other details, such as the field's size. The map does, however, call the location approximate."
"The Coast Guard, when it announced on June 22 that the Titan submersible had suffered a catastrophic implosion, said the debris field lay about 1,600 feet from Titanic's bow," reports the New York Times. "This is, we believe, reliable data," Brian A. Wainger, a lawyer for the salvor, RMS Titanic Inc. told the Times, which added: "The map, a mosaic of sonar images that were annotated by experts at the company, RMS Titanic Inc., helps indicate how close the craft was to its intended destination when disaster struck."
According to Insider, just 14 percent of the Titan's attempts to explore the wreckage of the Titanic were actually successful. The rest of them were canceled or aborted.
The publication claims to have reviewed the company's four-page passenger liability waiver. The waiver was signed by every passenger who got into the vessel, including the four who died along with the company's CEO last month.
The waiver, cited that the tourist vessel was "experimental," using the term three times. It also stated that it only successfully completed "as few as 13 dives" out of 90 to the Titanic's final resting spot in the North Atlantic Ocean.
The waiver also used the term "death" three times on the first page, noting that guests could be subjected to "extreme pressure," "unpredictable" conditions and high-pressure gases and high-voltage electrical systems.
According to Insider, OceanGate said on their now-archived website that it completed over 14 expeditions and 200 dives in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf of Mexico using two subs. The company also noted it had first successfully reached the Titanic in 2021
Since the implosion, there have been a number of interviews and even footage unearthed that seem to support that the company was well aware of the dangers of the vessels, but opted to bring people down anyway.
Rush made chilling comments about the sub's structure and safety during an interview with Mexican travel blogger Alan Estrada. "I think it was Gen. [Douglas] MacArthur who said, 'You're remembered for the rules you break,'" he said. "You know I've broken some rules to make this [the Titan]. I think I've broken them with logic and good engineering behind me."
