Debris from the Titan submersible which imploded, killing all five on board, has been recovered and returned to land by a Canadian-flagged ship on Wednesday (June 28). The sub operated by OceanGate Expeditions was on a voyage to see the century-old wreck of the Titanic earlier this month, becoming a matter of global concern.
A report by the news agency Reuters mentioned that a video from the Canadian Broadcast Corporation carried footage from the harbour, which showed the nose of the submersible and some other shattered fragments.
The pieces were wrapped in a white tarp and were seen being pulled up by a crane off the Horizon Arctic vessel at St John’s Harbour in Newfoundland. Reports mentioned that twisted chunks of the 22-foot submersible were brought ashore.
Some experts have previously said that the recovery of the debris will be crucial in the investigation to find out what led to the tragic implosion of the submersible, which killed five passengers, including the company OceanGate’s CEO Stockton Rush, besides Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood, Hamish Harding, and Paul-Henri Nargeolet.
When the officials announced that the search and rescue mission for the passengers was ended and those on board were “sadly lost”, it was said that five major pieces were detected amid the debris around the Titanic site. A nose cone, outside the pressure hull, and a larger debris field were among them.
Pelagic Research, which operates the robotic vehicle, said in a statement: “Our team has successfully completed off-shore operations, but is still on mission and will be in the process of demobilization from the Horizon Arctic this morning.” It declined to comment further, citing confidentiality reasons.
The company also said that they have been working around the clock now for 10 days and are facing physical and mental challenges during this operation. They said they are also anxious to finish the mission and return to their loved ones.
Footage also showed a shattered part of the hull and machinery with dangling wires being taken off the ship at St. John’s, where the expedition to the Titanic had set off from.
Watch: Time to learn from Titan sub disaster? Perils of unregulated and extreme tourism
Concerns over such expeditions
This submersible raised questions about the unregulated nature of such expeditions as experts across the world asked why private parties ignore safety checks during risky adventure trips.
Reports also mentioned that the company had not got a safety audit committed by a third party. Some experts have highlighted that the scope of survival was low even if a small thing went wrong.
In the past week, Canadian and US authorities have also announced investigations into the incident.
(With inputs from agencies)
You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.
