The US Coast Guard has released the first public video showing the wreckage of the Titan submersible, which tragically imploded and sank during a dive at the Titanic wreck site in 2023. The incident resulted in the deaths of all five people aboard, marking the first fatal deep-sea submersible accident in 50 years.
The video reveals the stern tail section of the Titan and what appears to be a fragment of carbon fiber from the submersible’s pressurized hull. The Coast Guard believes that the experimental carbon fiber hull of the Titan collapsed suddenly and without warning.
This footage was made public as part of the Marine Board of Investigation (MBI) hearings, the Coast Guard’s most serious inquiry into such incidents. The MBI process involves extensive research and public testimony from stakeholders over several months.
The Titan was operated by OceanGate, a company aiming to make ultra-deep sea dives more accessible by reducing costs. They marketed these dives as “scientific” expeditions to high-net-worth individuals at prices ranging from $20 000 to $35 000 per person.
During the hearings, the MBI panel questioned four OceanGate employees about the submersible’s design, construction, and operation, focusing on the decisions made by co-founder and CEO Richard Stockton Rush III. Rush, who died in the implosion, had previously acknowledged that the Titan’s carbon fiber hull was pushing the boundaries of current technology. In October 2022, he had remarked on the challenges of operating outside conventional standards, reflecting on the risks involved with the innovative design.
