In a sobering development, remnants of the ill-fated Titan sub - which went missing last week - have been retrieved and brought ashore.
The OceanGate-operated submersible - which was on an ill-fated voyage to visit the wreck of the Titanic - met a "catastrophic" end, with the incident resulting in the tragic loss of five lives, including that of Stockton Rush, CEO of OceanGate.
The previously unseen pieces of the sunken Titan were unloaded from the Horizon Arctic ship at the Canadian Coast Guard pier in St. John's, Newfoundland, The Mirror reports.
It comes after the US Coast Guard reported last week that a significant debris field had been discovered by the Coast Guard approximately 1,600 feet from the Titanic's bow.
In response to the horrifying incident, US maritime officials have pledged to issue a comprehensive report aimed at enhancing the safety of submersibles worldwide.
Investigators from the US, Canada, France, and the United Kingdom are all examining the incident that occurred on June 18, in what US Coast Guard Rear Adm. John Mauger describes as an "unforgiving and difficult-to-access region" of the North Atlantic.
Previously, the US Coast Guard had validated that the wreckage from the Titan showed indications of a catastrophic loss of pressure within the submersible.
In a subsequent press conference, Rear Admiral John Mauger further elaborated on the disaster, saying: "This was a catastrophic implosion of the vessel which would have generated a significant broadband sound down there that the sonar buoys would have picked up."
Mauger also confirmed the consistency of the debris with the devastating loss of the pressure chamber.
The tragic event claimed the lives of Rush, British entrepreneur Hamish Harding, French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet, and Shahzada Dawood and his teenage son, Suleman, both British citizens of Pakistani descent.
The Titan sub had drawn much attention for its innovative carbon fiber and titanium construction and capabilities to dive to depths of 4000m.
Now, however, there have been increasing questions about the Titan's design. A CNN review indicates that OceanGate's commitment to safety measures seemed at odds with its decisions. The company had bypassed industry standards, opting out of a voluntary, intense safety review of the submersible.
These findings are underscored by a concerning email sent by submersible expert Karl Stanley to Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate Expeditions, after an undersea excursion in 2019. In this correspondence, Stanley expressed his concern about suspected defects in the submersible, casting further doubt on the Titan's safety.
Additionally, the tragedy has led to living relatives of those who were on the Titanic calling for an end to tourism surrounding the doomed passenger liner.
Our thoughts continue to go out to everybody impacted by this tragedy.
