Implosion of the submersible Titan: Coast Guard: Investigation of the accident takes longer than planned

(CANADA) – The investigation into the dive of the ill-fated submersible Titan to the site of the Titanic will take longer than expected, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

“The investigation into the implosion of the Titan submersible is a complex and ongoing matter,” Jason Neubauer, chairman of the Coast Guard’s Marine Board of Investigation, said in a statement Friday. “We are working closely with our domestic and international partners to ensure a complete understanding of the incident.”

The original timetable for the investigation was for a report to be published within a year.

The implosion of the submersible OceanGate in June 2023 killed five people, including the company’s CEO, Stockton Rush.

The Coast Guard cited two reasons for the delay, including “the need to commission two recovery missions to secure critical evidence and the extensive forensic investigations required.”

“We are grateful for the international and interagency cooperation that was critical to the recovery, preservation and forensic examination of evidence from a remote offshore region and extreme depth,” Neubauer added in the statement. “The MBI is committed to ensuring we fully understand the factors that led to this tragedy in order to prevent similar incidents in the future.”

The Coast Guard also sent its best wishes to the families of the victims ahead of the anniversary of the implosion on June 19. In addition to Rush, the ship’s victims included Titanic researcher Paul-Henri Nargeolet, British businessman Hamish Harding, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman.

OceanGate has suspended all exploration and commercial activities following the fatal implosion.

While the investigation into the cause of the fatal accident is ongoing, outside experts have already called Titan’s carbon fiber construction fundamentally flawed, and a whistleblower who worked on a predecessor to the Titan vessel raised concerns about the inefficiency of the hull design. Rush had previously defended the decision to build the submersible from carbon fiber, believing it would have a better strength-to-buoyancy ratio than titanium.

Meredith Deliso of ABC News contributed to this report.

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