(Gray News) – The U.S. Coast Guard has released the first video of the wreckage of the Titan submersible on the ocean floor.
Monday was the first day of a two-week-long hearing by the Coast Guard into the Titan’s tragic journey and how OceanGate failed to provide a safe expedition.
Coast Guard officials displayed the new video and images of the wreckage site and said DNA was used to match human remains to the Titan’s deceased crew members.
“Human remains were recovered from the Titan ocean floor site,” a Coast Guard spokesperson said at the hearing. “The remains were recovered and respectfully transported to shore. The Air Force medical examiner, located in Delaware, positively identified the DNA profile of the five victims.”
The wreckage of the Titan was found on the ocean floor about 330 yards off the bow of the Titanic, about 435 miles south of St. John’s, Newfoundland.
The submersible was on a trip to view the Titanic’s wreckage in June 2023 when it imploded, killing all five people on board.
The hearing will focus on understanding what caused the implosion and how to prevent something similar from happening again.
Several former OceanGate employees have testified, saying their safety concerns about the submersible were ignored.
During the submersible’s final dive on June 18, 2023, the crew lost contact after an exchange of texts about the Titan’s depth and weight as it descended. The support ship Polar Prince then sent repeated messages asking if the Titan could still see the ship on its onboard display.
One of the last messages from Titan’s crew to Polar Prince before the submersible imploded stated, “all good here,” according to a visual re-creation presented earlier in the hearing.
The ongoing Marine Board of Investigation is the highest level of marine casualty investigation conducted by the Coast Guard. When the hearing concludes, recommendations will be submitted to the Coast Guard’s commandant. The National Transportation Safety Board is also conducting an investigation.
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