Why has the Titanic submarine operator suspended expeditions? The company in charge of operating the submarine that tragically imploded during a dive into the Titanic wreck, killing all five people on board, including two Pakistanis, has announced an indefinite suspension of all operations.
The Titan submarine was reported missing on June 18, and on June 22, the US Coast Guard confirmed that the vessel had suffered a catastrophic implosion, effectively ending the global rescue operation.
Why has Titanic submarine operator suspended expeditions?
OceanGate, a company based in the United States, announced on its website that it had decided to “suspend all exploration and commercial operations” two weeks after the incident that killed the company’s CEO, Stockton Rush.
British explorer Hamish Harding, French submarine expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet, Engro Corp Vice Chairman Shahzada Dawood, and his 19-year-old son Suleman were among those aboard the submarine.
Last week, experts recovered presumed human remains from the wreckage of the submarine, which was discovered on the ocean floor and brought to the eastern Canadian port of St. John’s, Newfoundland.
The victims are believed to have died instantly when the Titan, which was roughly the size of an SUV, collapsed under the immense pressure of the North Atlantic at a depth of more than two miles (nearly four kilometers).
A debris field was discovered 1,600 feet (500 meters) from the Titanic’s bow, which is 400 miles off the coast of Newfoundland.
OceanGate Expeditions charged $250,000 for a seat on its submarine, but concerns about its safety policies surfaced following the implosion.
Both the US Coast Guard and Canadian authorities have launched investigations into the cause of the tragedy, which occurred approximately one hour and forty-five minutes after the Titan went down into the ocean.
The Titanic famously collided with an iceberg and sank during its maiden voyage from England to New York in 1912, killing over 1,500 of the 2,224 passengers and crew on board. Since its discovery in 1985, the Titanic has piqued the interest of maritime experts and underwater tourists alike.
