Worthy Christian News > World News > All Five Aboard Titan Sub Dead After ‘Catastrophic Implosion’

All Five Aboard Titan Sub Dead After ‘Catastrophic Implosion’

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

BOSTON, USA (Worthy News) – The U.S. Coast Guard says all five people aboard a submersible that tried to reach the Titanic shipwreck have died in a “catastrophic implosion.”

The announcement followed a massive international search and rescue operation for the five men who were praised as heroic explorers.

“These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world’s oceans,” OceanGate Expeditions, the U.S.-based company that operated the Titan submersible, said in a statement.

Those aboard the submersible were named as British adventurer Hamish Harding, 58; French veteran Titanic explorer Paul Henri Nargeoloet, 77; British-Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his 19-year-old son Suleman; and 61-year-old American Stockton Rush, co-founder of OceanGate, the company that operated the lost vessel.

Officials could not confirm whether they would be able to recover the bodies of the crew members.

The U.S. Coast Guard said it would continue investigating the debris field site while vessels and personnel would be demobilized over 24 hours.

Investigators said five significant parts of the submersible were found on Thursday, approximately 1,600 feet (480 meters) from the bow of the Titanic wreck.

DEBRIS LOCATED

The debris was located by a remote-controlled underwater search vehicle (ROV). Separate pieces were discovered that allowed authorities to confirm they came from the Titan, including a tail cone, officials said.,

It was not yet clear when the implosion occurred or what may have caused it. The U.S. Navy detected “an acoustic anomaly consistent with an implosion” shortly after the Titan lost contact with the surface.

Previous reports suggested that noises were heard, raising false hopes among family members at the time that they were still alive.

As the tragedy unfolded, questions were raised Thursday about reported safety rules violations. In an old undated video posted online following news of the implosion, the CEO of OceanGate Stockton Rush can be seen admitting that he broke some rules to create the submersible.

“I’d like to be remembered as an innovator. I think General McArthur said, ‘You’re remembered for the rules you break.’ I have broken some rules to make this. I think I’ve broken them with logic and good engineering behind me,” he said.

“The carbon fiber and titanium, there is a rule that you don’t do that. Well, I did,” Stockton explained, referring to a combination of two materials that can cause galvanic corrosion.

His Titan was among several submersibles taking paying tourists and experts to view the Titanic wreck at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, 370 miles (595 kilometers) off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.

DEEP DIVE

Multi-day tours to the famous shipwreck, 3,800 meters (12,500 feet) down at the bottom of the Atlantic, can cost up to $250,000. The descent and ascend can reportedly take eight hours.

The Titanic has been extensively explored since the wreck was first discovered in 1985. The passenger liner, once the largest ship of its time, hit an iceberg on a maiden voyage from Southampton to New York in 1912.

Of the 2,200 passengers and crew on board, more than 1,500 died, according to historical records.

Titanic film director James Cameron who made 33 dives to the wreck site, said the similarities between the sub-disaster and the Titanic tragedy struck him.

“This is a mature art, and many people in the community were concerned about the sub,” he recalled. “I’m struck by the similarity of the Titanic disaster itself, where the captain was repeatedly warned about ice ahead of his ship, and yet he steamed at full speed into an ice field on a moonless night, and many people died as a result.”

His words did little to comfort the relatives of those who died in the Titan submersible tragedy.

The aunt of 19-year-old Suleman Dawood told NBC that her nephew was “terrified” of the expedition before embarking on it.

Azmeh Dawood, the older sister of the Pakistani billionaire businessman Shahzada Dawood explained to the American broadcaster that Suleman had said he “wasn’t very up for it” and felt “terrified” about the journey.

LAST BREATH

“I am thinking of Suleman, who is 19, in there, just perhaps gasping for breath … It’s been crippling, to be honest,” Azmeh said.

“I feel disbelief … It’s an unreal situation,” she added. “I feel like I’ve been caught in a really bad film, with a countdown, but you didn’t know what you’re counting down to … I personally have found it kind of difficult to breathe thinking of them.”

Azmeh also talked about her younger brother Shahzada who also died in the implosion, saying, “He was my baby brother … I held him up when he was born.”

She added that her brother was “absolutely obsessed” with the Titanic from an early age and loved visiting museum exhibitions on the wreck.

Separately the family of British billionaire explorer Hamish Harding paid tribute to “a dedicated father” who “lived his life for his family, his business, and for the next adventure” after the news of the implosion of the missing submersible.

“Today, we are united in grief with the other families who have also lost their loved ones. Hamish Harding was a loving husband to his wife and a dedicated father to his two sons, whom he loved deeply. To his team [of his company] in Action Aviation, he was a guide, an inspiration, a support, and a living legend.”

Yet amid the sorrow, the family said that “We know that Hamish would have been immensely proud to see how nations, experts, industry colleagues, and friends came together for the search, and we extend our heartfelt thanks for all their efforts.”

Relatives of the victims urged prayers while also asking for privacy. “Our hearts are with these five souls and every member of their families during this tragic time,” OceanGates Expeditions said.