Human remains likely found among Titan submarine debris | Abroad

These remains, ‘carefully collected from the wreckage’, as well as the salvaged debris, will now be analysed. This in order to provide “critical elements to understanding the cause of this tragedy,” said Jason Neubauer, who is leading the US Coast Guard investigation.

The Titan went missing earlier this month as it descended towards the 1912 sinking ship Titanic. Only later did it appear that an implosion had taken place. Why the vessel collapsed under the high pressure deep in the ocean is not known. The Titan had already completed more than twenty expeditions to the wreck. None of the five occupants survived.

On Wednesday local time, debris from the submarine Titan arrived on the Canadian mainland in the harbor of St. John’s, in eastern Canada. This would include a side panel and possibly the nose of the submarine.

Although the Titan’s implosion was accompanied by enormous forces, and little remains of the pressure vessel in which the occupants were, considerable debris has been recovered from the sea. “Not surprising in itself,” says Associate Professor of Marine Technology at TU Delft, Jeroen Pruijn, when he looks at the photos. The ‘tail’ and a frame or landing gear appear to be visible from the outside. They are not pulverized.

“When I set off a firecracker, the bottom, which is furthest away from the explosion, is often still intact,” he explains. It seems that the welds in particular have broken through here, he sees.

The owner of the underwater robot that found the Titan half a kilometer from the Titanic last week has told Canadian media that his team has successfully completed the operation in the Atlantic Ocean. The company says it cannot make any further statements because of the investigations, reports the daily newspaper The Globe and Mail.

The investigation into the Titan is being conducted by the US and Canadian authorities in the field of transport safety. The US Coast Guard and the police in Canada are also investigating what went wrong.