Human remains found 4 months after submarine imploded on dive down to Titanic

10 October 2023 , 21:15

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Human remains have been found four months after the Titan submarine imploded on a dive down to the Titanic.

Hamish Harding, Shahzada Dawood and his teenage son Suleman, plus French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeole, Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate, all died in the implosion. Recovery and transfer of remaining parts was completed last Wednesday, say the Coast Guard, and a photo showed the intact aft titanium endcap of the 22-foot (6.7-meter) vessel.

The Coast Guard has now recovered remaining debris, including presumed human remains, from the wreck site after the Titan imploded on a deep dive beneath the Atlantic Ocean's surface, officials said Tuesday.

READ MORE: 'Everyone knew what it meant' - Titan sub rescue team knew crew died when debris appeared

Additional presumed human remains were carefully recovered from within Titan's debris and transported for analysis by U.S. medical professionals. The salvage mission conducted under an agreement with the U.S. Navy was a follow-up to initial recovery operations on the ocean floor roughly 1,600 feet (488 meters) away from the Titanic.

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The Coast Guard previously said it recovered presumed human remains along with parts of the Titan after the debris field was located at a depth of 12,500 feet (3,800 meters). Investigators believe the Titan imploded as it made its descent into deep North Atlantic waters on June 18.

A photo showed the intact aft titanium endcap of the 22-foot (6.7-meter) vessel (AP)

Earlier this year a sea Captain gives chilling description of what would have happened to bodies of Titan victims. Captain John Noble gave a poignant interview to Sky News, saying the victims were now with the thousands of Titanic passengers who lost their lives when the famous ship hit an iceberg and sank in the North Atlantic Sea in April, 1912.

When asked about the chances of the crew members being recovered from the sea, Captain Noble said: "They are at the bottom of the sea. They are now in a resting place, along with hundreds of Titanic passengers. The decision may well be to leave the Titan victims in peace where they are. And dare I say it, the cost to recover them would be astronomical."

Hamish Harding, Shahzada Dawood and his teenage son Suleman, plus French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeole, Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate, all died in the implosion (Dirty Dozen Productions/OceanGat)

The multiday search mounted after Titan went silent captured attention around the world. The submersible was attempting to view the British passenger liner that sank in 1912. The Coast Guard's Marine Board of Investigation said investigators from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and the Transportation Safety Board of Canada joined the salvage expedition, and the Coast Guard is coordinating with international investigative agencies to schedule a joint review of the evidence to determine the next steps for forensic testing.

The Marine Board of Investigation, meanwhile, will continue its analysis and witness interviews ahead of a public hearing on the tragedy, officials said Tuesday. OceanGate, the operator of the vessel, has since gone out of business. Among those killed in the implosion was Stockton Rush, the submersible's pilot and CEO of the company.

Debris from the Titan submersible, recovered from the ocean floor near the wreck of the Titanic, is unloaded from the ship Horizon Arctic at the Canadian Coast Guard pier (AP)

Karl Stanley, a Honduras submarine tour operator, previously identified a number of safety flaws with the vessel and became increasingly concerned with the company's boss, Stockton Rush, dismissive attitude towards keeping passengers safe.

He told 60 Minutes Australia : "I literally painted a picture of his wrecked sub at the bottom and even that wasn't enough. There was no doubt in my mind that the biggest failure was the carbon fibre tube that was the mechanical part that failed." The tour operator demanded Mr Rush obtain a safety certificate for the sub before letting paying customers come on board, but he was ignored.

This led to Mr Stanley becoming concerned over the CEO's "cavalier attitude" to safety issues and sourcing professional hardware suited for the Titan. The 22ft submersible had no GPS system and was reliant on the mothership above the surface to help guide it, along with a Xbox-style controller, which made it possible for "anybody to drive the sub", according to Mr Rush.

An Xbox-style controller made it possible for "anybody to drive the sub", according to CEO Stockton Rush (@60MinutesAU/YouTube)

Former Director Marine Operations for the Titan, David Lochridge, was axed after he demanded more safety checks on the sub but his concerns were also dismissed by Mr Rush.

The "most alarming", however, was the attitude the OceanGate boss had when observing his daily operations with the vessel. The advisor told RNZ: "In the maritime industry, safety is the central theme of our daily operations, it’s all sea fare not just those that go beneath the waves. "The attitude was one of anyone that raises a safety concern will not only be silenced but they will be ex-communicated to that effect."