The seek for the Titan submersible, which went lacking on its voyage to the wreck of the Titanic, gripped the world in 2023.
After 5 frantic days of looking out, the wreckage was finally discovered on the ocean flooring roughly 500m from the sunken Titanic.
The implosion killed all 5 individuals on board – Titan operator Stockton Rush, who based OceanGate, the corporate that owned the submersible; two members of a outstanding Pakistani household, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman; British adventurer Hamish Harding; and Titanic knowledgeable and the sub’s pilot Paul-Henri Nargeolet.
After the catastrophe, considerations had been raised due to the Titan’s unconventional design and Mr Rush’s refusal to undergo impartial security checks.
OceanGate additionally suspended all exploration and business operations in July 2023.
Here’s what occurred.
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(Clockwise from prime left) Paul-Henri Nargeolet, Stockton Rush, Hamish Harding, Suleman Dawood and Shahzada Dawood are all presumed lifeless
Launch and shedding contact
The Titan submersible started its two-hour descent to the wreck of the Titanic, at a depth of three,810m (12,500ft), from St John’s, Newfoundland, off Canada’s east coast, at round 8am native time (1pm UK time) on 18 June 2023.
At 9.45am (5pm UK time), the sub misplaced contact with its floor vessel. Titan then failed to seem at its scheduled floor time of 3pm (8pm UK time).
It was not till 5.40pm (10.40pm UK time) that the US Coast Guard was made conscious.
US and Canadian ships, and planes, formally started their search the subsequent day, on 19 June 2023.
Sonobuoys, able to monitoring sound at depths of as much as round 3,900m (13,000ft), had been dropped into the Atlantic in an try to choose up any signal of the lacking craft.
‘Banging noises’
As particulars emerged on 20 June of who was on board, France dedicated to sending Atalante, a ship geared up with a deep-sea diving vessel, to the search space.
The urgency of the search was highlighted by data from the vessel’s operator, OceanGate Expeditions, which stated that Titan had a 96-hour oxygen provide in case of emergencies.
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The OceanGate Expeditions vessel pictured above water. File pic
Nonetheless, hopes had been raised when experiences emerged that sounds had been detected below the water throughout a number of hours.
Rescue race
The US Coast Guard confirmed on 21 June {that a} Canadian P-3 plane detected underwater banging noises at 30-minute intervals, however added that the ensuing search got here again “negative”.
The US Coast Guard, US Navy, Canadian Coast Guard and OceanGate Expeditions established a unified command to supervise search operations, with the French vessel Atalante arriving later within the night. Not less than 10 vessels had been concerned by that time.
Discovery of particles
All vessels concerned within the search had been by then lastly in place – together with the Atalante ship, which introduced a robotic that may dive to six,000m (19,600ft).
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The French Atalante vessel
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A Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules aircraft flies over the French analysis vessel, Atalante in June 2023. Pic: AP
Simply earlier than 4.50pm UK time, the US Coast Guard revealed that “a debris field was discovered within the search area by an ROV near the Titanic”.
Whereas dwell on air, he acquired a WhatsApp message suggesting that the ‘touchdown body and rear cowl’ of the vessel had been found.
He stated: “They don’t use phrases like ‘debris field’ unless there’s no chance of a recovery of the men alive.
“A particles subject implies a break-up of the submersible… that basically type of signifies what’s the worst-case state of affairs, which is a catastrophic failure and customarily that is an implosion.
“The only saving grace is that it would have been immediate – literally in milliseconds – and the men wouldn’t have known what was happening.”
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1:33
From June 2023: ‘Two mates of mine are gone’
Simply earlier than 8pm UK time, OceanGate stated in a press release it believed that these on board had “sadly been lost”.
The corporate stated it “grieved the loss of life” and expressed gratitude “for the countless men and women from multiple organisations of the international community who expedited wide-ranging resources and have worked so very hard on this mission”.
‘Totality of the vessel’ discovered
On 23 June 2023, the US Coast Guard stated “major pieces” of the submersible had been discovered by a remotely-operated automobile (ROV) which had been scouring the ocean flooring.
The ROV first noticed the “tail cone” from the rear tip of the submersible after which got here throughout a big particles subject close by, officers stated, the place the entrance of the sub’s strain chamber was discovered.
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Video of Titan sub wreckage launched
Paul Hankins, the director of salvage operations within the US Navy stated on the time the invention was the “first indication there was a catastrophic event”.
The robotic then got here throughout a second, smaller particles subject, which contained the opposite finish of the pressurised maintain, which Mr Hankins stated “basically compromised the totality of that pressure vessel”.
The wreckage was introduced ashore, the place presumed human stays had been recovered.
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Horizon Arctic despatched down the ROV which discovered particles of the sub
Investigation launched
The USCG Marine Board of Investigation (MBI) additionally launched an investigation into the catastrophe.
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1:09
From September 2024: Titan ‘abomination’ of submersible
The investigating panel heard two weeks of testimony in September 2024, which noticed a former OceanGate scientific director say the Titan malfunctioned throughout a dive just some days earlier than it imploded.
OceanGate’s former operations boss additionally advised the panel the sub was an enormous threat and the corporate was solely targeted on revenue.
In August 2025 the MBI launched its report which concluded that “the loss of five lives was preventable” and a “toxic workplace culture” was one among a number of contributing components that led to the sub’s implosion.
The 335-page report recognized a complete of eight “primary causal factors” that led to the deadly implosion and went on to make 17 security suggestions with the hope of “closing gaps in international maritime policy”.
‘What was that bang?’
In February 2025, a recording which appeared to seize the implosion of the submersible was launched by US Coast Guard officers.
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From February 2025: Audio from Titan submarine
The brief recording included a loud noise that feels like a muffled clap, earlier than going silent for a couple of seconds.
The coast guard stated the noise was picked up by a passive acoustic recorder positioned round 900 miles from the implosion website.
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1:10
Titan submersible: ‘What was that bang?’
In Could of the identical 12 months, the coast guard launched new footage displaying Wendy Rush, spouse of Stockton Rush, making an attempt to contact these on board the doomed vessel.
Mrs Rush and colleague Gary Foss are seen monitoring the Titan’s journey within the North Atlantic Ocean from assist vessel Polar Prince.
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Faucet to observe
After the implosion is heard, Mrs Rush asks: “What was that bang?”
The USCG consider the noise was the sound of the Titan’s implosion reaching the floor of the ocean.
