The final, heartbreaking moments of communication between the main crew and their support vessel during the tragedy of the Titan submersible have been revealed through the ongoing investigation.
The U.S. Coast Guard began a set of hearings on Monday, September 16, 2024, to look into the June 2023 implosion of the Titan submersible. This terrible incident killed all five crew members, who were on an expedition to the Titanic wreck site.
One of the most haunting revelations was a brief message sent by the crew to the support ship, Polar Prince. This turned out to be the last piece of communication before the submersible lost contact and later imploded.
The exchange occurred on June 18, 2023, while the submersible was descending to explore the Titanic wreck site. At around 10:00 a.m., the Polar Prince tried to communicate with the crew. They repeatedly asked whether the sub could see the support vessel on its display.
Despite asking the same question seven times in seven minutes, the Titan’s response was sporadic. At 10:14 a.m., the crew sent a short response: “k,” followed by another short reply to the same question: “Yes.” Moments later, they added, “All good here.”
The communication between the two vessels ended abruptly at 10:47 a.m., and the Titan’s final descent ended in disaster. The submersible imploded, killing all on board. The crew included Stockton Rush and Paul Henri Nargeolet. Hamish Harding, Shahzada Dawood, and his 19-year-old son, Suleman, were also on board.
These details were presented with an animated re-enactment during Monday’s hearing. This was part of a larger effort by the Marine Board of Investigation (MBI) to understand what led up to the tragedy and what could have been done differently.
In a press conference held a day before the hearings began, Jason Neubauer, the chair of the MBI, expressed condolences to the families of those lost. He also emphasized the board’s dedication to conducting a thorough investigation of everything gathered in the past 15 months.
According to Neubauer, the board was committed to identifying safety gaps and making recommendations to prevent similar incidents in the future. He also addressed reporters’ questions about the scope of the inquiry. Their ultimate goal is to discover both technical and procedural flaws in the mission.
He assured the public that all information gathered during the hearings would be made available. However, the investigation’s final report is set to be released after an analysis by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Coast Guard.
To understand the context of these hearings, it’s important to look back at the first days of this tragedy. The Coast Guard’s response to the incident began immediately after they were informed of the Titan’s disappearance.
They launched a massive surface and aerial search operation approximately 900 miles east of Cape Cod. Even Canadian authorities were enlisted for additional support with aircraft and sonar buoys.
The search area was challenging due to its remote location and extreme depths of around 13,000 feet. Rear Admiral John Mauger of the U.S. Coast Guard led the initial press briefings to the public. He provided updates on the search efforts and detailed how the Coast Guard was working to find the submersible and to rescue those on board.
Mauger also noted the submersible’s 96-hour emergency air supply, which made their mission much more urgent. Unfortunately, their endeavor was unsuccessful. On June 25, the Coast Guard officially concluded the search and rescue phase.
They then transitioned into a formal investigation led by the MBI with the help of international agencies. Their plans included meticulously recovering evidence from the seafloor.
Matter such as debris and presumed human remains was taken for a thorough forensic analysis. It was also noted that voice recordings and data from the support vessel would be examined.
By June 28, 2023, the M/V Horizon Arctic had successfully transported the first batch of evidence from the wreck site to St. John’s, Newfoundland. The recovered materials were later transferred to a U.S. port for further examination. On October 4, 2023, Coast Guard engineers and international partners retrieved additional debris from the seafloor.
The findings of the past year of investigation will be presented during these court hearings, which will continue over the next two weeks. The legal proceedings can be watched for free on the US Coast Guard’s YouTube and other news channels.