Titanic sub: company than owned submersible that suffered fatal 'catastrophic implosion' ceases operations

The firm that owned the submersible Titan has announced it has suspended commercial operations.

OceanGate said on its website on Thursday evening (6 July) it had “suspended all exploration and commercial operations” following what was described as a likely "catastrophic implosion" of the vessel last month, while on a voyage down to the wreckage of the Titanic off the coast of Canada.

All five people onboard were killed, including UK citizens Hamish Harding and father and son Shahzada and Suleman Dawood, alongside OceanGate Expeditions’ chief executive Stockton Rush and the submersible’s pilot, French national Paul-Henri Nargeolet.

Presumed human remains were recovered from the wreckage of the Titan submersible on 29 June, the US Coast Guard said. They will be analysed by medical professionals.

After the implosion, Guillermo Sohnlein - who founded OceanGate alongside Rush - defended the firm, describing regulations surrounding visits to the Titanic as “tricky to navigate”.

Since the submersible was first reported overdue on 18 June, past concerns about the vessel emerged - including court documents which revealed the company had faced a lawsuit over its safety in 2018.

An employee had claimed they were fired for raising concerns about the depths its submersible could safely travel to - with the man alleging he initially told OceanGate's executive management team about his safety concerns, which included "potential danger to passengers of the Titan as the submersible reached extreme depths", but was ignored.

At a meeting to discuss his findings, he claimed to learn the main viewing window in the submersible was only certified to withstand pressures at depths of up to 1,300 meters - while OceanGate intended to take passengers down to more than three times that depth. The case was settled out of court.

It was also revealed passengers had to sign a waiver, which admitted that the vessel “has not been approved or certified by any regulatory body, and may be constructed of materials that have not been widely used in human occupied submersibles.”

It included the statement “I understand the inherent risks in the activities that will be undertaken during the operation, and I hereby assume full responsibility for all risks of property damage, injury, disability, and death". However, lawyer and ex-Secret Service agent Timothy Allen said there are similar situations “where waivers may be deemed invalid”, such as if gross negligence can be argued.

Speaking after evidence was recovered from the wreck last week, Marine Board of Investigation chairman Captain Jason Neubauer said he was "grateful for the co-ordinated international and inter-agency support to recover and preserve this vital evidence at extreme offshore distances and depths".

“The evidence will provide investigators from several international jurisdictions with critical insights into the cause of this tragedy," he said. “There is still a substantial amount of work to be done to understand the factors that led to the catastrophic loss of the Titan and help ensure a similar tragedy does not occur again.”