Titan Sub Implosion: New Video Reveals Moment of Disaster

New video shows the moment Oceangate’s Titan submersible was lost. The video was recorded on the support ship during the dive in June 2023. The sub was on its way to the wreck of the Titanic. It imploded about 90 minutes into the dive. All five people on board died.

They had paid to see the Titanic, which lies 3,800 meters underwater. The people on board were:

• Stockton Rush, Oceangate’s CEO

• Hamish Harding, a British explorer

• Paul Henri Nargeolet, a French diver

• Shahzada Dawood, a businessman

• Suleman Dawood, his 19-year-old son

The BBC got access to a U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) investigation. The footage is part of a new documentary called Implosion: The Titanic Sub Disaster.

In the video, Wendy Rush, the wife of Stockton Rush, is on the support ship. She hears a loud bang and asks, “What was that bang?” She is seen sitting in front of a computer that sends and receives messages from the sub.

The sub was at a depth of about 3,300 meters when the bang was heard. A text message from the sub then said it had dropped two weights. Wendy Rush thought things were still going as planned. But the USCG says the bang was actually the sound of the sub imploding. The message was sent just before the implosion, but the sound arrived faster.

All five people on board died instantly.

Warnings Ignored Before the Dive

Experts had warned Oceangate before the dive. Some said the sub’s design was unsafe. One called it an “abomination.” Others said a disaster was “bound to happen.”

The sub had not gone through a safety check called certification. Its body was made from carbon fiber mixed with resin. This material is not good for deep-sea dives because it can break under pressure. The layers can start to separate. This is called delamination.

The USCG says the damage started a year before the final dive. That earlier dive was Titan’s 80th. Passengers then had heard a loud bang as they returned to the surface. Stockton Rush told them it was the sub shifting in its frame.

But sensors showed the bang came from delamination.

Lieutenant Commander Katie Williams of the USCG said:
“Delamination during dive 80 was the start of the end. Anyone who went in the sub after that was risking their life.”

Titan made three more dives in 2022 before the final one in 2023.

Survivors and Experts Speak Out

Businessman Oisin Fanning went on the sub twice before the disaster. He told the BBC:
“If I had known what I know now, I wouldn’t have gone.”

Explorer Victor Vescovo said he warned people not to go on Titan. He told Stockton Rush that it was only a matter of time before the sub failed.

After the implosion, pieces of the sub were found on the ocean floor. The USCG found some of Mr. Rush’s clothing and business cards in the wreck.

The final report from the USCG will come out later this year. It will explain what went wrong and how to stop it from happening again.

Christine Dawood lost her husband Shahzada and her son Suleman. She told the BBC that the loss changed her life forever.

Lawsuits have already begun. There could also be criminal charges.

Oceangate said:
“We offer our deepest condolences to the families. We have shut down operations and are helping with the investigation. We will not comment further until the reports are finished.”