The 6.7-metre-long (22 ft), 10,432 kg (23,000 lb) vessel was constructed from carbon fibre and titanium. Background OceanGateįormerly known as Cyclops 2, Titan was a five-person submersible vessel operated by OceanGate Inc. OceanGate executives, including Rush, had not sought certification for Titan, arguing that excessive safety protocols hindered innovation. Numerous industry experts had raised concerns about the safety of the vessel. Support was provided by aircraft from the Royal Canadian Air Force and United States Air National Guard, a Royal Canadian Navy ship, as well as several commercial and research vessels and ROVs.

The search and rescue operation was conducted by an international team led by the United States Coast Guard (USCG), USN, and Canadian Coast Guard. The search area was informed by the United States Navy's (USN) sonar detection of an acoustic signature consistent with an implosion around the time communications with the submersible ceased, suggesting the pressure hull had imploded while Titan was descending, resulting in the instantaneous deaths of all five occupants. After a search lasting nearly 80 hours, a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) discovered a debris field containing parts of Titan, about 500 metres (1,600 ft) from the bow of the Titanic.

The submersible contained Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate Paul-Henri Nargeolet, a French deep sea explorer and Titanic expert Hamish Harding, a British businessman and Shahzada and Suleman Dawood, a Pakistani-British businessman and his son.Ĭommunication with Titan was lost 1 hour and 45 minutes into its dive, and authorities were alerted when it failed to resurface at the scheduled time later that day. On 18 June 2023, Titan, a submersible operated by American tourism and expeditions company OceanGate, imploded during its descent in the North Atlantic Ocean, about 370 nautical miles (690 km) off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, during a tourist expedition to view the wreck of the Titanic. John's, Newfoundland (1), on 16 June 2023, and arrived at the dive site (2) on 17 June 2023, where Titan was deployed and began its descent the next day.

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