More debris and human remains have been recovered from a Titan submarine, months after the ship exploded, killing five people as they descended into the depths to view the Titanic’s wreckage, the US Coast Guard said.
The Coast Guard said in a statement Tuesday that engineers with its Marine Investigation Board recovered debris and evidence from the bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean during a rescue mission last week. The statement was accompanied by a photo that showed the titanium end cap of the 22-foot vessel.
The Coast Guard said the wreckage was transported to a port in the United States for analysis, while presumed human remains were carefully recovered from within the Titan’s wreckage and transported for analysis by American medical professionals. The agency did not specify the port where the wreck was being analyzed.
Investigators have been analyzing and testing materials recovered from Titan since late June, about two weeks after Titan exploded. The Coast Guard said they will continue to examine new evidence and interview witnesses to prepare for a public hearing.
The US National Transportation Safety Board and the Canadian Transportation Safety Board joined the recovery mission as part of their investigation into the cause of the accident.
On the morning of June 18, the ship Titan descended into the depths with five people on board to view the wreck of the Titanic. It was scheduled to return in the afternoon to the Canadian research vessel Polar Prince, which was providing surface support about 900 nautical miles east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
About an hour and 45 minutes after Titan fell below the surface, Polar Prince lost contact with it and notified the Coast Guard. An international search and rescue operation was launched and a recovery mission followed.
On June 22, the Coast Guard said that Titanic’s tail cone and other debris were found on the ocean floor, about 1,600 feet from Titanic’s bow. Authorities said in late June that presumed human remains and debris, including the hull and sides, were recovered by a ship that deployed a remotely operated vehicle to search the ocean floor.
Among the victims was Stockton Rush, founder of OceanGate Expeditions, the Everett, Washington-based company that operated the submarine. Mr Rush, who captained the Titan, paid up to $250,000 per passenger to visit the wreck of the Titanic, which sank in 1912.
