Follow along for live updates on the submersible that imploded deep in the Atlantic Ocean, killing all five people aboard during a voyage down to the Titanic shipwreck.
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TITAN’S IMPLOSION HIGHLIGHTS MURKY REGULATIONS FOR DEEP-SEA VOYAGES
The Titan’s voyage down into the North Atlantic highlights the murkily regulated waters of deep-sea exploration.
It’s a space on the high seas where laws and conventions can be sidestepped by risk-taking entrepreneurs and the wealthy tourists who help fund their dreams. At least for now.
Thursday’s announcement by the U.S. Coast Guard that the Titan had imploded near the Titanic shipwreck, killing all five people on board, has drawn attention to how these expeditions are regulated.
The Titan operated in international waters, far from the reach of many laws of the United States or other nations. It wasn’t registered as a U.S. vessel or with international agencies that regulate safety, nor was it classified by a maritime industry group that sets standards on matters such as hull construction.
Stockton Rush, the OceanGate Expeditions CEO and Titan pilot who was among the dead, had said he didn’t want to be bogged down by such standards.
Experts say wrongful death and negligence lawsuits are likely in the Titan case — and they could be successful. But legal actions will face various challenges, including waivers signed by the Titan passengers that warned of the myriad ways they could die.
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What to know:
— Questions emerge about Titanic-bound sub’s regulation, as investigators hunt for reason it imploded
— A Titanic expert, an adventurer, a CEO, and a father and son were killed in Titan’s implosion
— Tourist sub’s implosion draws attention to murky regulations of deep-sea expeditions
— ‘Titanic’ director James Cameron says the search for the missing sub became a ‘nightmarish charade’
— The latest on the Titan submersible tragedy and what’s next in the recovery efforts
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CRITICS POINT TO LACK OF CERTIFICATION FOR TITAN SUBMERSIBLE
Bob Ballard, a member of the research team that found the Titanic wreck in 1985, called the lack of certification by outside experts “the smoking gun” in the case of the Titan submersible.
The U.S. Coast Guard announced Thursday that the Titan, a small craft headed to the wreck of the Titanic, suffered a catastrophic implosion, killing all five aboard.
“We’ve made thousands and thousands and thousands of dives with other countries as well to these depths and have never had an incident,” Ballard said Friday on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” “So this is the first time, and the smoking gun is that this is the first time by a submarine that wasn’t classed.”
Appearing on the same show, “ Titanic” director James Cameron called the lack of certification by an engineering entity or “classing bureau” “a critical failure.”
He described several potential problems with the Titan’s design, but said the weakest link was the carbon fiber composite hull.
“You don’t use composites for vessels that are seeing external pressure. They’re great for internal pressure vessels, like scuba tanks, for example, but they’re terrible for external pressure,” he said. “So this was trying to apply aviation thinking to a deep submergence engineering problem. And we all said this was a flawed idea.”
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COAST GUARD SAYS FOCUS REMAINS ON SEARCH, OFFICIAL INVESTIGATION YET TO BE LAUNCHED
Still focused on the search, the U.S. Coast Guard said Friday that an official investigation has yet to be launched into the disappearance and implosion of the Titan submersible.
Coast Guard officials announced Thursday that the craft that was headed to the wreck of the Titanic suffered a catastrophic implosion, killing all five aboard.
On Friday morning, the Coast Guard said an official investigation had not yet been launched because the agencies involved were focused on the search and still determining who has the appropriate jurisdiction and authority to lead it. Possibilities include the U.S. Coast Guard, Canadian Coast Guard, other federal or international agencies, or a joint effort.
The Coast Guard also said it was too soon to say whether any policy changes would be made.
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US NAVY ACOUSTIC SYSTEM DETECTED ‘ANOMALY’ THAT WAS LIKELY IMPLOSION, OFFICIAL SAYS
A U.S. Navy acoustic system detected an ‘anomaly’ Sunday that was likely the Titan’s fatal implosion, according to a senior military official.
The Navy went back and analyzed its acoustic data after the Titan submersible was reported missing Sunday. Coast Guard officials on Thursday announced that the craft suffered a catastrophic implosion, killing all five aboard.
That anomaly was “consistent with an implosion or explosion in the general vicinity of where the TITAN submersible was operating when communications were lost,” according to a senior Navy official.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive acoustic detection system.
The Navy passed on the information to the Coast Guard, which continued its search because the Navy did not consider the data to be definitive.
The Wall Street Journal on Thursday first reported the Navy’s involvement.
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Associated Press writer Lolita C. Baldor in Washington contributed to this report.
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TITANIC SALVAGE RIGHTS OWNER MOURNS LOSS OF SHIPWRECK EXPERT
RMS Titanic, Inc., the company that owns the salvage rights to the Titanic shipwreck, is mourning the loss of Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet, who was among five people killed aboard the Titan submersible when it imploded this week.
Nargeolet — known as “PH” — was a long-term employee of the company.
“The maritime world has lost an iconic and inspirational leader in deep-sea exploration, and we have lost a dear and treasured friend,” the company said in a statement Thursday.
Friend and former colleague Matthew Tulloch said Nargeolet loved his work from the time they collaborated in the 1990s up until Nargeolet’s death.
“I never got the impression that he was looking forward to retirement,” Tulloch said with a small laugh. “You sort of think of people as they retire, then they can go on and do things that they love to do. This was exactly that for him — I can’t think of anything that I’m aware of that he would enjoy doing more than traveling around and sharing information and his experiences with people.”
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