The submersible which discovered the Titan vessel’s wreckage has completed four more search dives at the site – but the U.S. Navy has ruled out using its most advanced deep sea recovery tool to pick up the pieces.
Odysseus 6k found wreckage from Titan, which imploded beneath the Atlantic with five people on board, after a huge search and rescue operation.
The French-owned submersible is now leading a search of the seabed – 12,500ft beneath the ocean surface – to find any further pieces of wreckage or remains of the crew who perished in the disaster.
But a Navy recovery system that can pull wreckage from depths of 20,000ft has now been withdrawn from the mission. The Flyaway Deep Ocean Salvage System had been deployed amid hopes it could rescue Titan if the vessel was found intact.
Officials have said it won’t be used following the grim news that Titan suffered a ‘catastrophic implosion’ which has likely broken it into smithereens. All five crew are dead and Coast Guard chiefs have said their remains may never be found.
The U.S. Navy has said its Flyaway Deep Ocean Salvage System, which can salvage objects from depths of 20,000ft, won’t be used in the search after Titan was crushed to smithereens
Odysseus 6K, which discovered wreckage of the Titan submersible, has completed four more searches of the seabed to look for further pieces or remains of the five crew who perished
The capabilities of FADOSS were highlighted in 2021 when it successfully recovered a downed U.S. Navy helicopter from a depth of around 20,000ft
‘Efforts to mobilize equipment such as the Flyaway Deep Ocean Salvage System have been discontinued,’ said a Navy official.
Instead, the official said, ‘efforts are focused on helping map the debris field in preparation for recovery efforts and to support investigative actions’.
Pelagic Research Services, which operates Odysseus, said it was working closely with authorities in the ongoing search for Titan wreckage.
The searches are part of a wider investigation by the U.S. Coast Guard which will also consider whether OceanGate, the company which launched Titan, is culpable for any ‘misconduct, incompetence, negligence, unskillfulness or willful violation of law’.
Ed Cassano, CEO of Palagic Research Services, said: ‘We continue to work tirelessly in our support role of this mission, alongside the incredible crew of Horizon Arctic, led by Captain Adam Myers.’
Horizon Arctic is the vessel which launches Odysseus.
Cassano added that the team has been ‘successful in investigating identified objects of interest’.
The recovery was described as ‘remarkably difficult and risky’ because of the depths. Titan had been headed to the wreckage of the Titanic, 12,500ft underwater where the pressure is immense.
The Titan submersible suffered a ‘catastrophic implosion’ while journeying to the Titanic’s wreckage
Titan’s carbon fiber hull and its acrylic viewport were subject to several warnings and James Cameron singled them out as ‘potential failure points’ on the vessel
The Navy’s FADOSS was considered a crucial tool because of its track record of plucking large objects from the ocean’s depths. In 2021 it pulled a downed MH-60S Seahawk helicopter from 3.6 miles beneath the ocean near Japan.
The helicopter crashed into the Pacific in 2020. The crew managed to abort the craft and nobody was hurt.
But it’s believed the nature of the damage to Titan led officials to withdraw FADOSS from the mission.
The US Coast Guard is currently investigating the cause of the undersea implosion of the Titan submersible and has not ruled out finding human remains – while also hinting that the probe could lead to criminal charges.
Captain Jason Neubauer, who is heading up the investigation, said salvage operations are continuing and investigators have mapped the accident site.
The Coast Guard opened what it calls a Marine Board of Investigation (MBI) on Friday, he said, and is working with the FBI to recover evidence.
Cpt Neubauer said the convening of an MBI is the highest level of inquiry conducted by the US Coast Guard. It is unclear how long it will take. The US Coast Guard said it does not charge for search and rescue operations.
The findings will be shared with the International Maritime Organization and other groups ‘to help improve the safety framework for submersible operations worldwide,’ Cpt Neubauer said.
Stockton Rush perished on board the Titan last Sunday along with his four passengers when the vessel imploded while en route to the Atlantic seabed
Shahzada Dawood, 48, (right) one of Pakistan’s richest men, who along with his teenage son Suleman Dawood, 19, (left) died on the Titan
He said the Coast Guard is in touch with the families of the five people killed, and that investigators are ‘taking all precautions on site if we are to encounter any human remains.’
Yesterday the sons of British billionaire Hamish Harding paid tribute to the ‘best father’ who they say ‘constantly sought to be the best man he could be’.
Rear Admiral John Mauger, of the First Coast Guard District, said: ‘The MBI is also responsible for accountability aspects of the incident and it can make recommendations to the proper authorities to pursue civil or criminal sanctions as necessary.’
The US Coast Guard said on Thursday that all five people aboard the submersible had died after the vessel suffered a ‘catastrophic implosion.’
One of Mr Harding’s sons, who was not named on the statement issued through Action Aviation, has hailed the billionaire for being a ‘tenacious, hard working businessman’ and for having ‘inspired me more than anyone will ever know’.
The adventurer and his wife Linda have two sons, Rory and Giles. Mr Harding is also the stepfather to her two children from a previous relationship, Laurena and Brian.
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