Titanic Sub Tragedy: Voice Recordings between Fallen Sub & Its Mothership to Be Examined

• It has been a week since the catastrophic implosion of the missing submersible killed five people.
• There is a rigorous investigation trying to determine how the implosion happened.
• Authorities have also gotten hold of the voice recording in the Titan's mothership to help with the investigation.

It had been a week since the catastrophic implosion of the Titan submersible that killed five people was confirmed. The vessel took off on its 3,800 ft ocean journey on June 8 and lost communication within an hour and 45 minutes.

The five people who were killed on their journey to visit the Titanic wreckage included Stockton Rush, CEO of the vessel's operator OceanGate Expeditions; British businessman Hamish Harding; French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet; and Pakistani-born businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son, Suleman, who were British citizens.

During the rigorous hunt for the submersible, there were reports of underwater sounds characterized as "banging" and "tapping." Still, it was later established that they were not connected to the missing vessel.

The US Coast Guard said they found debris from the submersible about 1,600 feet from the bow of the Titanic and now will be undergoing an intensive investigation of how the implosion took place.

The US Coast Guard chief investigator Capt. Jason Neubauer said this would be the “highest level of investigation" the Coast Guard would conduct and that the Marine Board of Investigation was already hard at work.

Voice Recordings to Be Collected for the Investigations

Part of the investigation will examine the voice recordings from the Titan's mothership to determine further how the implosion occurred.

The chairman of the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, Kathy Fox, also said Canadian investigators boarded the mothership to collect the recorded data for the agency in a bid to gather as much information as possible and avoid history repeating itself.

According to the information from the OceanGate Expedition website, the mothership and submersible could send texts and were obligated to communicate every 15 minutes.

Neubauer also announced that part of the evidence report would include eyewitness testimony and family members' interviews. US Coast Guard chief investigator added that the authorities would eventually establish if there is a need for a criminal investigation.

Further Details about the Implosion

The implosion is said to have been the worst-case scenario, also referred to as a “catastrophic failure." The passengers were sealed in with 17 bolts and could only be let out from the outside.

Therefore, judging from the scattered debris, David Mearns, who specializes in deep water search and recovery operations, said the pressure of the implosion most likely resulted in instant death.

According to Mearns, the immediate death was the only "saving grace" because it meant the passengers most likely did not feel or know what happened.

However, as this was the worst-case scenario, the investigation will also look deeper into the safety measures taken. According to reports, the company declined to undergo standard safety precautions that required a more detailed safety examination of the vessel.

Here is another story about the developing OceanGate submersible story.