June 30th 2023.
Edward Cassano, CEO of Pelagic Research Services, spoke at a news conference on Friday about the efforts to rescue the doomed Titan submersible. He revealed that OceanGate Expeditions contacted them on June 18th, and that his team immediately began assembling a team to respond. Within 24 hours, they had arrived at the scene and launched their ROV.
Mr. Cassano described the solemn moment when the crew discovered debris from the vessel on the sea floor. He expressed his sorrow, saying, "Of course, we continued to document the site, and by 12 o’clock, sadly a rescue turned into a recovery." He paused, visibly moved, and added, "It’s a lot of emotions. People are tired."
When asked what he thought of the Titan’s voyage, Mr Cassano said that, based on his own experience with a company that focuses on deep-sea research, he believes the crew was motivated by ‘a passion and a joy for exploration’. Five people lost their lives in this mission, including British adventurer Hamish Harding, and father and son Shahzada and Suleman Dawood, OceanGate Expeditions’ chief executive Stockton Rush, and French national Paul-Henri Nargeolet.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Transportation Safety Board of Canada have been investigating the cause of the accident. It was later revealed that Titan suffered a ‘catastrophic implosion’ after a piece of the vessel was discovered near the bow of the Titanic. Further debris from the sub were unloaded in St John’s, Canada, on Wednesday, along with what is presumed to have been human remains.
The Titan submersible had been used to visit the wreckage site of the Titanic multiple times, and the depth of the wreck is roughly 12,600 feet. Passengers paid $250,000 each to participate in the voyage. However, contact was lost an hour and 45 minutes into the two-hour descent, and the vessel was reported missing eight hours later.
Mr. Cassano paid tribute to the crew of the Titan submersible, saying that they were motivated by a passion and joy for exploration. Despite the tragedy, their courage and dedication will not be forgotten.
[This article has been trending online recently and has been generated with AI. Your feed is customized.]
[Generative AI is experimental.]
