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Grim discovery: Search concludes for Titan debris, human remains
Debris of the Titan sub and presumed human remains were brought ashore by salvage crews.
Debris from the Titan submersible, recovered from the ocean floor near the wreck of the Titanic, is unloaded from the ship Horizon Arctic at the Canadian Coast Guard pier in St John’s on Wednesday, June 28, 2023. The Canadian Press/AFP/Paul Daly
After extensive search operations, salvage crews recovered debris from the imploded Titan submersible, marking the end of the demanding search-and-recover mission.
The submersible’s nose cone and a panel with loose wires and electronics attached was offloaded by the crews in St John’s at the Canadian Coast Guard terminal.
Parts of Titan sub recovered
Jeff Mahoney, a representative of the New York-based firm in charge of the search operations, said the mission “extremely taxing and exhausting”.
He told AFP: “We’ve finished our offshore (actions) and are basically demobilising now and getting the team back to their loved ones”.
He said the debris – which he described as company assets – will be taken back to Pelagic Research operations base in New York.
WATCH: Titan debris brought ashore
Meanwhile, the coast guard said it is believed human remains were found among the debris brought to the surface.
Analysis of the bio-material recovered will be conducted by medical professionals to determine if it is human remains.
The Titan went missing on 18 June, and it was later confirmed the submersible suffered a “catastrophic implosion” just hours into its mission.
A debris field was discovered near the Titanic’s wreckage, which rests more than 3 800 metres below the ocean surface.
Titan’s implosion
Professor Arun Bansil from the Northeastern University in Massachusetts said an implosion of this kind would have released a substantial amount of energy.
This would result in instantaneous death, and the deceased would not have had “time to comprehend what was happening”.
He said the implosion would have “occurred in a fraction of a millisecond, maybe even a nanosecond”.
WATCH: Depth of despair: Inside the chilling physics of Titan’s implosion
Investigation continues
Investigations into the implosion will be conducted by both Canada and the United States, starting with the mission logs and the recovered debris.
Captain Jason Neubauer, leading the US investigation, said there is still a substantial amount of work to be done to understand the sequence of events leading to the implosion.
Canadian officials, however, declined to comment on the recovery efforts.
Quotes from AFP.
