Canada: US Coast Guard has confirmed that 5 people onboard the Titan submersible which was missing since 18th June 2023 has been killed in a catastrophic implosion. The debris of the submersible was found on the Titanic wreck site while in search of the missing Titan.
According to the statement, a Canadian ship deployed a robotic diving vehicle to uncover a debris field belonging to the submersible Titan, resting on the seabed approximately 1,600 feet (488 meters) away from the bow of the Titanic. This significant find occurred at a depth of 2 1/2 miles (4 KM) below the surface, in a remote area of the North Atlantic.
The cause of the Titan sub’s implosion remains uncertain, but experts suggest that a slight weakening of its outer hull may have played a role. The pressure underwater increases significantly with depth. At sea level, the pressure is around 14.6 pounds (6.6 kilograms) per square inch, referred to as “one atmosphere.”
This pressure rises by one atmosphere for every 10 meters of water depth. Therefore, at a depth of 3,000 meters, where the sub disintegrated, the pressure is approximately 300 times greater than at the surface. The Titanic wreck lies in the Midnight Zone, also known as the bathypelagic Zone, which ranges from 3,300 to 13,100 feet deep. In this zone, the temperature is around 39 degrees Fahrenheit (4 degrees Celsius), and the pressure is at least 100 times higher than at sea level. Only a few species of animals have adapted to survive in this extreme environment, where they have evolved to withstand intense pressure, darkness, and cold. However, they quickly perish if brought to the surface.
— OceanGate Expeditions (@OceanGateExped) June 22, 2023
The victims were Mr. Hamish Harding,58, Mr. Shahzada Dawood,48, along with his son Mr. Suleman Dawood,19, Mr. Paul-Henri Nargeolet,77, and Mr. Stockton Rush,61. The US Navy has revealed that they detected an “acoustic anomaly consistent with an implosion” shortly after the Titan began its dive on 18th June 2023. Surprisingly, the information about this detection was not made public earlier, and the reasons behind the delayed announcement remain unclear.