CNN—
After a day of massive searchingSubmarine headed for the Titanicwhich attracted international attention, U.S. officials announced that the ship had suffered a "catastrophic explosion" - and new information from a U.S. Navy source is helping to shed light on when that catastrophe may have occurred.
All five people aboard the submarine known as the "Titan" have died, the US Coast Guard said at a press conference on Thursday. The tail cone and other remains of the missing submarine were found by a remote-operated vehicle about 1,600 feet from the Titanic's bow, which lies at a depth of about 13,000 feet in the North Atlantic.
"The remains are consistent with a catastrophic ship collapse," US Coast Guard Vice Admiral John Mauger, commander of the First Coast Guard District, told reporters.
A senior Navy official told CNN that the Navy detected an acoustic signature consistent with an explosion on Sunday in the general area where the ship was locatedwent divingand lost contact with its mother ship.
The Navy immediately passed the information on to ground commanders conducting the search, and it was used to narrow down the search area, an official said Thursday.
However, the sound of the explosion was deemed "inconclusive", the official said, and multinational efforts to find the submarine continued as a search and rescue operation.Wall Street Journalhe was the first to report an acoustic signature captured by the navy.
Watch live Titanic submarine updates
Minutes before the US Coast Guard press conference, OceanGate Expeditions, the operating companydeep sea submarineissued a statement expressing sadness for the five men on board.
"We now believe our Managing Director of Stockton Rush, Shahzada Dawood, and his son Suleman Dawood, Hamish Harding and Paul-Henri Nargeolet are sadly missing," OceanGate said in a statement.
“These people were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world's oceans. Our hearts are with these five souls and all their families at this tragic time. We mourn the loss of life and the joy they brought to all who knew them."
This news concludes a saga that began on Sunday when the Titan began descending to explore the wreck of the Titanic. The mission was advertised as "an opportunity to go beyond the ordinary and discover something truly extraordinary" and cost each participant $250,000,the archived version of the OceanGate website will be displayed.
Howevertight shiphe lost contact with his mother ship after about 1 hour 45 minutes of diving and did not ascend as expected, prompting an extensive search and rescue operation in a remote area several hundred miles southeast of Newfoundland.
The mission reflects the ongoing fascination with the Titanic more than a century after it struck an iceberg and sank on its maiden voyage, killing more than 1,500 people. Traveling was also part of his growing businessrich adventuretourism, along with the Blue Origin spaceflights and the advent of guided tours of Mount Everest.
Focus on the restored shipcriticism of OceanGate's approach to securityby employees and other industry leaders. The 23,000-pound deep-sea craft was constructed from an experimental combination of carbon fiber and titanium, and featured decidedly low-tech components such asvideo game controller.
Staff will now be tasked with answering more questions, including collecting exactly what happened and how best to prevent it from happening again.
Great search effort
The submarine OceanGate Titan is seen in an undated photo.
In recent days, international search and rescue efforts have begun to gain momentum.
The last communication between the ship and its parent, the Polar Prince, was at 11:47 am on Sunday morning. Without underwater GPS, the sub was guided only by text messages from the surface ship.
An unmanned aerial vehicle searched for a submarine on the seabed in the Northeast region of the US Coast Guard.he wrote on TwitterThursday morning. The plane also swept through the search zone, and a ROV and equipment from Magellan, the team thatmapped the location of the wreck of the Titanicwent to this place last year to attend.
There were moments earlier this week that gave hope to the family and friends of the missing sailor.
tapping noisesthe submarines were detected by sonar on Tuesday and Wednesday atbulk search area, although its origins were unclear. The sounds on Tuesday were first heard every 30 minutes and then four hours later, according to an updated US government memo on the investigation.
When asked about the noises on Thursday, Mauger said: "There doesn't seem to be any connection between the noises (and) the location on the seabed."
The U.S. Navy also helped analyze impact sound signatures and other acoustic data heard during the search, a Navy official told CNN. The officer said it was probably some form of physical life or sounds emitted by other ships and vessels.
The sound of the explosion picked up by the U.S. Navy came from a set of sensors that was part of the Navy's underwater listening system.
OceanGate answers your ship safety questions
A screenshot of the Canadian Forces' video, released Wednesday, shows the search efforts of the OceanGate Titan submarine.
The Titan's explosion and the deaths of its passengers put its operator's safety procedures under scrutiny.
Rush, CEO of OceanGate Expeditions, told a Mexican travel blogger in 2021 that he wants to be known as an innovator who breaks the rules.
"I think it was General (Douglas) MacArthur (US Army) who said, 'You are remembered for the rules you break,' Rush told Alan Estrada, who described his trip on the Titanic, including his failed attempt in July. 2021 before a successful visit in 2022.
"I broke a few rules to do this," Rush added.
at least two exOceanGate employees raised safety concerns many years agoCNN learned about the hull of the boat, including the thickness of the material used and the testing procedures.
OceanGate Expeditions deviated from industry standards, e.gexemption from voluntary and rigorous safety reviewship, according to an industry leader. Had the company passed a certification review, "some of this could have been avoided," Will Kohnen of the Marine Technology Society told CNN on Wednesday.
According to court records, the company has also faced a number of mechanical problems and inclement weather that have forced it to cancel or postpone trips in recent years. Sunken trips led topair of processeswhere some high-paying customers sought to recoup travel expenses they claimed they had not made. Complaints alleged that the company overestimated its ability to reach the wreck of the Titanic.
OceanGate did not respond to the court's complaints and could not be reached for comment.
Some missions were delayed after OceanGate had to rebuild the Titan's hull because it had "cyclic fatigue" and couldn't travel deep enough to reach the Titanic wreck, according to a 2020 GeekWire article interviewing the company's CEO . .
The president of the company and rich adventurers among the victims
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These are the people from the missing submarine
02:36 - Source:CNN
The Titan usually carried five people: the pilot, in this case Rush; three paying passengers, in this case Hamish Harding, Shahzada Dawood and Suleman Dawood, and a Titanic content expert, in this case Paul-Henri Nargeolet, according to the archived OceanGate website.
Harding, a British businessman and CEO of Action Aviation brokerage, had a long list of extreme missions under his belt. In 2019, he was a member of the flight crew that broke the world record for the fastest circumnavigation of the planet at both poles, and in 2020, he was one of the first people to dive into the Challenger Deep in the Pacific Ocean, widely regarded as the deepest point of the world's oceans.
Last year, he paid an undisclosed sum for one of the seats on the Blue Origin spaceflight.
"Today we join in grief with the other families who also lost loved ones aboard the Titan submarine," the Action Aviation family said in a statement. "Hamis Harding was a loving husband to his wife and a devoted father to his two children whom he loved dearly."
"What he has achieved in his life has been truly remarkable and if this tragedy is any consolation, it is that we lost him doing what he loved," the statement added. "He will leave a void in our lives that cannot be filled."
Pakistani billionaire Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman were members of a prominent Pakistani business family. Dawood Hercules Corporation is one of the largest companies in the country, whose portfolio includes energy, petrochemicals, fertilizers, IT, food and agriculture.
In a statement posted on the Dawood Foundation's Twitter account, Shahzada's parents Hussain and Kulsum Dawood announced the deaths of Shahzada and Suleman.
“We are very grateful to everyone involved in the rescue operations. Your tireless efforts have been a source of strength to us during this time," the statement reads. “We are also grateful to our friends, family, colleagues and supporters around the world who have supported us in times of need. The outpouring of love and support we have received continues to help us cope with this unimaginable loss."
Nargeolet, an accomplished French diver, had many years of experience exploring the Titanic. He served as director of underwater research inRMS Titanic Inc., the company that holds the exclusive rights to salvage items from the ship.
According to his biography on the company's website, Nargeolet made 35 dives to the wreck of the Titanic and oversaw the recovery of 5,000 items. He spent 22 years in the French Navy, where he rose to the rank of commander.
His family called him "a man who will be remembered as one of the greatest deep-sea explorers in modern history" in a statement signed by his wife and children.
"When you think of the Titanic and all that we know about that ship today, you think of Paul-Henri Nargeolet and his legendary work," the statement added.
“But what we will remember most about him is his big heart, amazing sense of humor and how much he loved his family. We will miss you today and every day for the rest of our lives."
Rob Frehse, Laura Ly, Francesca Giuliani-Hoffman, Kristina Sgueglia, Greg Wallace, Paul P. Murphy, Curt Devine, and Isabelle Chapman of CNN contributed to this report.
FAQs
How far down is the Titanic? ›
The Titanic wreckage, which is about 12,500 feet deep in the North Atlantic, is in the midnight zone. That's as deep as about nine Empire State Buildings stacked on top of each other.
Who found the Titanic? ›Recent News. Robert Ballard, in full Robert Duane Ballard, (born June 30, 1942, Wichita, Kansas, U.S.), American oceanographer and marine geologist whose pioneering use of deep-diving submersibles laid the foundations for deep-sea archaeology. He is best known for discovering the wreck of the Titanic in 1985.
What went wrong with Titanic? ›The immediate cause of RMS Titanic's demise was a collision with an iceberg that caused the ocean liner to sink on April 14–15, 1912.
How long did it take to sink the Titanic? ›Titanic sank in two hours and 40 minutes.
Is Netflix adding Titanic? ›A few days after the incident, Netflix announced that the award-winning film starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet will make its return to the streaming service on 1 July.
How many dead bodies recovered from Titanic? ›About 2,200 passengers were on board the ocean liner that sank in 1912, and more than 1,500 died. 340 people were found dead floating by the life jacket on the surface of the sea, but what happened to the other 1,160?
What did they find in the Titanic safe? ›A purser's safe brought up from the wreck last summer contained an assortment of gold-colored British coins, whose value was estimated by an expert at about $5,000.
Is the Titanic still underground? ›The Titanic is sitting on the ocean floor, about 12,500 feet below sea level. The two broken parts of the ship – the bow and the stern — are more than 2,600 feet apart and are surrounded by debris. Several expeditions have captured images of the ship before.
Who picked up the bodies from the Titanic? ›It was the base for ships searching and recovering bodies of Titanic victims. Three ships were dispatched from Halifax, Mackay-Bennett, Minia and Montmagny (along with Algerine from Saint John's, Newfoundland) found almost all of the Titanic victims.
Who saved himself on the Titanic? ›J. Bruce Ismay, in full Joseph Bruce Ismay, (born December 12, 1862, Crosby, near Liverpool, England—died October 17, 1937, London), British businessman who was chairman of the White Star Line and who survived the sinking of the company's ship Titanic in 1912.
Why can't the Titanic be raised? ›
"Not only is the exposed steel on the upper bow too brittle for even the most industrious crane operation, but the mud has also acted as deep-sea quicksand for longer than most humans have been alive." Its lack of structural integrity is just one of three main reasons why the Titanic is destined to remain sunk forever.
Did anyone survive the Titanic that was not in a lifeboat? ›It was her sister, Edna Kearney Murray who survived the sinking of the Titanic but it wasn't in an overloaded lifeboat.
What happened to the bodies of those who died on the Titanic? ›In the case of the Titanic, more than 1,500 people were lost in the North Atlantic. Over 100 of the bodies were buried at sea due to their severe damage or decomposition, and crews at the time were only able to recover over 200 bodies.
What was the biggest mistake on the Titanic? ›1. Icebergs – the ultimate hazard. The poor navigation of icebergs is undoubtedly the most well-known and momentous of mistakes that caused the sinking of the Titanic. Indeed, the collision between the Titanic and an iceberg – on 14 April 1912 at 11:40pm – is what caused the tragedy.
What famous millionaire died on the Titanic? ›John Jacob Astor was the wealthiest passenger aboard Titanic. He was the head of the Astor family, with a personal fortune of approximately $150,000,000.
Are there any Titanic survivors still alive? ›There are no survivors of the Titanic alive today
Her name was Elizabeth Gladys 'Millvina' Dean, and she was just two months old when she boarded the Titanic with her family. The Dean family actually never had plans to board the Titanic, but were transferred onto the ship as a result of coal strikes.
Three small dogs, two Pomeranians and a Pekingese, survived the Titanic disaster cradled in their owners' arms as they climbed into lifeboats.
Why is Titanic going off Netflix? ›I did some digging and realized it's because it's streaming on Showtime right now. Titanic is one of those films that often leaves Netflix and comes back soon enough. So, take a deep breath and remember that your heart will go on and the film will be back and you'll get to feel like the king of the world again.
Is Titanic releasing again? ›When Is the Titanic Re-Release Coming to Theaters? Titanic will be re-released in theaters on February 10, 2023, just in time for Valentine's Day!
Why can't I find Titanic on Netflix? ›Unfortunately, Titanic is not currently available on Netflix. However, you will find it on Disney Plus and Amazon Prime Video in select countries, including the USA. If you are unable to stream the movie through these services in your region, you can still watch it with a high-quality VPN.
Was the captain of the Titanic found? ›
While we cannot know for sure how he spent his final moments, it is known that Captain Edward Smith perished in the North Atlantic along with 1517 others on April 15, 1912. His body was never recovered.
How many dogs died on the Titanic? ›The ship carried at least twelve dogs, only three of which survived. First-class passengers often traveled with their pets.
What happens to bodies in sunken ships? ›Even a weighted body will normally float to the surface after three or four days, exposing it to sea birds and buffeting from the waves. Putrefaction and scavenging creatures will dismember the corpse in a week or two and the bones will sink to the seabed.
Were any skeletons found on the Titanic? ›Some 1,160 people went down with the Titanic. but no bodies have ever been found. There are multiple theories as to why, although experts have been unable to completely solve the mystery once and for all.
Was Titanic safe found? ›The safe's handle was grasped, but it would not open, the leader of the expedition, Dr. Robert D. Ballard, reported by radio. He and his companions uncovered the safe in their first close-up survey of the debris to the stern of the vessel - ''a tremendous twisted pile of wreckage,'' he said, the size of a city block.
Is the iceberg from the Titanic still there? ›The average lifespan of an iceberg in the North Atlantic typically is two to three years from calving to melting. This means the iceberg that sank the Titanic "likely broke off from Greenland in 1910 or 1911, and was gone forever by the end of 1912 or sometime in 1913."
Will the Titanic eventually disappear? ›"Yes, like all things, eventually, Titanic will vanish entirely. It will take a long time before the ship completely disappears, but the decomposition of the wreck is to be expected and is a natural process," Patrick Lahey, president and co-founder of Triton Submarines, told Business Insider.
Why are there no skeletons left Titanic? ›Some Titanic experts say a powerful storm the night of the wreck scattered the life-jacketed passengers in a 50-mile-wide area, so it's likely the bodies scattered across the seafloor. Other experts say hundreds of people were trapped inside the ship when it sank.
Why don t they recover the Titanic? ›There are fears that during retrieval, the Titanic wreck would disintegrate into pieces, making it impossible to have something concrete by the time the remains reach the sea surface. There are documented reports that metal-eating bacteria has already consumed most of Titanic's wreckage.
What happened to the captain of the Titanic? ›He was the captain of RMS Titanic, and perished when the ship sank on her maiden voyage. Smith received the honorific rank of commodore, as the White Star Line's most senior captain, and also held the rank of Commander on the retired list of the Royal Navy Reserve.
Who didn't go down with the Titanic? ›
Fleeing the ship in a lifeboat, Ismay himself survived this most mythologized of all maritime disasters, even as thousands of women and children perished on that fateful night in 1912.
Who was the drunk survivor of the Titanic? ›Charles Joughin
If you remember the movie you may recall a baker drinking from a flask and hanging from a rail during the sinking of the Titanic. That man was Charles Joughin, who was the head baker on board the Titanic and the famous survivor who got hammered on whiskey.
From the beginning, some blamed the Titanic's skipper, Captain E.J. Smith, for sailing the massive ship at such a high speed (22 knots) through the iceberg-heavy waters of the North Atlantic. Some believed Smith was trying to better the crossing time of Titanic's White Star sister ship, the Olympic.
Who sent the last message on the Titanic? ›The last text message sent by British billionaire Hamish Harding before boarding the Titan submersible has been revealed. Harding is one of the five people on board the submersible that went missing on Sunday, June 18, after traveling 4,000 meters below the Atlantic Ocean to view the wreckage of the Titanic.
Could the Titanic could have been avoided? ›The sinking of the R.M.S. Titanic in April 1912 and the accompanying loss of life might have been averted if the ship's designers or the vessel's officers been made aware of certain engineering and damage control principles.
Where are Titanic remains? ›The wreck of the Titanic lies at a depth of about 12,500 feet (3,800 metres; 2,100 fathoms), about 325 nautical miles (602 kilometres) south-southeast off the coast of Newfoundland. It lies in two main pieces about 2,000 feet (600 m) apart.
Are they still trying to raise the Titanic? ›Since its discovery, there has been no more talk of raising the Titanic, and it is now protected by a UNESCO convention. The decaying ocean liner will be left to slowly disintegrate at the bottom of the Atlantic.
Was Rose from Titanic real? ›There was no Rose DeWitt Bukater aboard the actual Titanic, nor was she based upon any specific passenger of the ill-fated ship.
Were 3rd class passengers on Titanic locked in? ›The British Inquiry Report noted that the Titanic was in compliance with the American immigration law in force at the time - and that allegations that third class passengers were locked below decks were false.
Why didn't the Titanic lifeboats go back? ›As the half-filled boats rowed away from the ship, they were too far away for other passengers to reach, and most lifeboats did not return to the wreck due to a fear of being swamped by drowning victims. Only Lifeboats 4 and 14 returned to retrieve survivors from the water, some of whom later died.
How long did it take Titanic victims to freeze? ›
Thus, many people thrown into the sea assume that cold shock is the icy grip of death closing around them. In reality, the cold shock ends after 90 seconds. Even in the winter waters of the North Atlantic, an average-sized adult still has 10 minutes before going numb, and at least an hour before the heart stops.
How cold was it when the Titanic sank? ›The water was exceptionally cold, averaging around 28°F (-2°C) when the Titanic sank. These freezing temperatures greatly affected the passengers and crew in the shipwreck, as hypothermia quickly set in for those exposed to the water.
How long did it take to freeze to death Titanic? ›There's a rule of thumb used by rescuers : In 50 degree (fahrenheit) water, 50% of victims will be dead within 50 minutes. The water Titanic sank in was about 28 degrees. At those temperatures, hypothermia starts to set in in about 15 minutes, and death in about 30.
Was the captain of the Titanic drunk? ›The liner Titanic leaves Southampton, England on her maiden voyage to New York City in 1912. THE captain of the Titanic was drunk when the liner hit an iceberg and sank, a newly unearthed document alleges. Captain Edward Smith apparently was seen drinking in the saloon bar of the ship before the collision.
Could the Titanic have been saved if it hit the iceberg head on? ›The Titanic would founder. (By reversing the engines, Murdoch actually caused the Titanic to turn slower than if it had been moving at its original speed. Most experts believe the ship would have survived if it had hit the iceberg head-on.)
Did the captain of Titanic know about the iceberg? ›As depicted in the 1997 film starring Kate Winslet, Capt Smith later received warnings of icebergs while the liner was en route to New York. But these were not heeded and the ship travelled at speed until it struck an iceberg and sank.
Where did the Titanic sailing from England to the USA sink in 1912? ›The Titanic sets sail from Southampton, Great Britain, 1912. RMS Titanic was a British passenger liner that sank in the North Atlantic Ocean in the early morning of 15 April 1912, after colliding with an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City.
Where did the Titanic sink north or south? ›Captained by Edward J. Smith, the RMS Titanic left Southhampton, England, for New York City on April 10, 1912. Four days later, at 11:40 pm on April 14th, the ship struck on iceberg in the North Atlantic, south of Newfoundland, Canada.
How many children died on the Titanic? ›When the collision occured the order was quickly given for women and children to be placed in the lifeboats, despite this 61 children died in the Titanic disaster: one first class child passenger, two second class, and an astonishing fifty-seven third class. Both child crew members were lost.
Did any Titanic passengers survive in the water? ›The head baker of the Titanic spent two hours in frigid water and emerged with only swollen feet! It is believed that upwards of 1500 people died in the sinking of the Titanic. However, amongst the survivors was the ship's head baker Charles Joughin.
Are there still icebergs where Titanic sank? ›
The average lifespan of an iceberg in the North Atlantic typically is two to three years from calving to melting. This means the iceberg that sank the Titanic "likely broke off from Greenland in 1910 or 1911, and was gone forever by the end of 1912 or sometime in 1913."
Did anyone survive the Titanic? ›In the end, 706 people survived the sinking of the Titanic.