Titanic sub latest – Family of billionaire explorer calls implosion ‘best outcome’ as investigations begin

Family of Shahzada and Suleman Dawood calls loss ‘devastating’

Samad Dawood, the brother of Shahzada Dawood and uncle of Suleman Dawood, spoke about the devastating loss the Dawood family is facing after Shahzada and Suleman were killed on the Titan submersible.

“This is beyond what you could ever imagine in terms of the kind of hardships and struggle that we’ve had. I think what we’ve seen is enormous tragedy and devastation and a lot of emotions,” Samad told ABC News in an interview.

Samad called his brother an ‘inspiration’ saying he was somebody “who had love for the world” and wanted to experience everything the world had to offer.

Samad told ABC News that his 19-year-old nephew shared a similar love of adventure with his father.

“He was so filled with humbleness and gratitude,” Samad said. “I think it’s sad but also amazing that... his death also brought the world together, and I thank him for it.”

Ariana Baio24 June 2023 16:00

Family of Hamish Harding say instant death from implosion was ‘best outcome’

Kathleen Cosnett, the cousin of explorer Hamish Harding, said “knowing nothing about it” was the best way to go.

In a tribute on Friday, Ms Cosnett said her cousin, “a daredevil” who had been “a real apple of his parents’ eye”, died doing what he loved – undertaking an adventure.

“Now we know that it likely imploded on the descent, it is really the best outcome. They would have not known it was coming,” she told The Times.

“In a way, it is the best way to go, as he didn’t know it was happening. It’s really the best way to go isn’t it, being killed and knowing nothing about it?”

Ms Cosnett, from Twyford, Berkshire, told Sky News: “He’s a great adventurer, going up as high as he can, to space even, where he did go for 10 minutes last year, with other people. So, to me, it wasn’t too much of a surprise… This was just a sad disaster, perhaps waiting to happen.”

Ariana Baio24 June 2023 15:30

Watch: Relatives of Titanic victims criticise dark tourism of submersible tours

Ariana Baio24 June 2023 15:00

National Transportation Safety Board will assist Coast Guard investigation

The US National Transportation Safety Board said they would assist the US Coast Guard in their investigation into the Titan submersible accident in a tweet.

“The U.S. Coast Guard has declared the loss of the Titan submersible to be a major marine casualty and will lead the investigation. The NTSB has joined the investigation and will contribute to their efforts. The USCG is handling all media inquiries related to this investigation,” They wrote.

Ariana Baio24 June 2023 14:35

Where is the Titanic wreck – and how far down is it?

The RMS Titanic’s final resting spot is approximately 370 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada in the North Atlantic Ocean. It sank in 1912, killing approximately 1,500 people on board.

Its coordinates are 41º43’32”N, 49º56’49”W.

The ship famously began to sink after it struck an iceberg just before midnight during its maiden voyage. The collision caused a dent in the ship’s submerged hull, which then caused its seams to buckle. Five of its interior compartments flooded, dooming the ship.

Ariana Baio24 June 2023 14:00

Titan’s main support ship returns to harbour

The main support ship of the Titan submersible has returned to a Canadian harbour following the deep-sea vessel’s fatal implosion.

Flags on board the Polar Prince were at half-mast as it arrived at the port in St John’s in Newfoundland on Saturday morning after four passengers and the pilot of Titan were killed in the incident.

The support ship is set to be the subject of a safety investigation from the Transportation Safety Board (TSB) of Canada.

Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) boats had already started to return to St John’s harbour on Friday as the recovery operation began to wind down.

British adventurer Hamish Harding and father and son Shahzada and Suleman Dawood were killed on board the Titan submersible, alongside the chief executive of the company responsible for the vessel, Stockton Rush, and French national Paul-Henri Nargeolet.

(PA)

In a statement issued before ships began to return to the port, the CCG said the search and rescue operation had concluded.

The CCG confirmed one its vessels would remain on the scene and would “provide assistance and support to the recovery and salvage operations as requested by Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre Boston.”

The TSB said a team of investigators had been deployed to St John’s to “gather information, conduct interviews and assess the occurrence”.

In its own statement, the safety body said the investigation would be carried out “in accordance with the Canadian Transportation Accident Investigation and Safety Board Act and international agreements”.

The TSB will not determine civil or criminal liability and conducts investigations for “the advancement of transportation safety”.

Maryam Zakir-Hussain24 June 2023 13:30

Watch: Titanic director James Cameron felt ‘in his bones’ tourist submersible was lost

Ariana Baio24 June 2023 13:00

How much did Titan search cost? US Coast Guard's bill alone will be in the millions, experts say

The cost of the unprecedented search for the missing Titan submersible will easily stretch into the millions of dollars, experts said Friday.

The massive international effort by aircraft, surface ships and deep-sea robots began Sunday when the Titan was reported missing. Searchers raced against a 96-hour clock in the desperate hope to find and rescue the vessel’s occupants before their oxygen supply ran out.

But all hope was extinguished Thursday when officials announced the submersible had suffered a catastrophic implosion, killing all five aboard.

A scaled-back search remained in place Friday as the robots — remotely operated vehicles, known as ROVs — continued to scan the sea floor for evidence that might shed light on what occurred in the deep waters of the North Atlantic.

The search area spanned thousands of miles — twice the size of Connecticut and in waters 2 1/2 miles (4 kilometers) deep — with agencies such as the US Coast Guard, the Canadian Coast Guard, US Navy and other agencies and private entities.

There’s no other comparable ocean search, especially with so many countries and even commercial enterprises being involved in recent times, said Norman Polmar, a naval historian, analyst and author based in Virginia.

The aircraft, alone, are expensive to operate, and the Government Accountability Office has put the hourly cost at tens of thousands of dollars. Turboprop P-3 Orion and jet-powered P-8 Poseidon sub hunters, along with C-130 Hercules, were all utilized in the search.

Some agencies can seek reimbursements. But the US Coast Guard — whose bill alone will hit the millions of dollars — is generally prohibited by federal law from collecting reimbursement pertaining to any search or rescue service, said Stephen Koerting, an attorney in Maine who specializes in maritime law.

“The Coast Guard, as a matter of both law and policy, does not seek to recover the costs associated with search and rescue from the recipients of those services,” the Coast Guard said Friday in a statement.

A scaled-back search remained in place Friday as the robots — remotely operated vehicles, known as ROVs — continued to scan the sea floor for evidence that might shed light on what occurred in the deep waters of the North Atlantic.

Namita Singh24 June 2023 12:30

Flags half-mast as Titan support ship docks at St John’s harbour

Flags on board the main support ship for the Titan submersible could be seen at half-mast as it began to dock at St John’s harbour.

A Canadian national flag and a Mi’kmaq flag, which represents the North American people who inhabit the Maritime Provinces of Canada, were both at half-mast at either end of the vessel.

Maryam Zakir-Hussain24 June 2023 12:22

An 1851 maritime law protected the Titanic’s owners in court. Could OceanGate use it too?

The company operating the ill-fated Titan submersible could attempt to avoid legal liability by taking advantage of the same law used by the owners of the doomed Titanic more than a century ago – in a tragically macabre full-circle development, according to legal experts.

Sheila Flynn reports:

Ariana Baio24 June 2023 12:00