US Coast Guard Investigate Cause Of Submersible Titan Explosion

The platform carries a submersible Titan. (Twitter/@actionaviation)

The United States Coast Guard announced that it was investigating the cause of the explosion of a Titan manned submersible ship that killed its five passengers, after losing contact while trying to dive into the ruins of the banyan Ship in the Atlantic Ocean.

The announcement comes a day after Canada's Transportation Safety Board said it was conducting an independent investigation into Titan's explosion, which has raised questions about the nature of unregulated expeditions.

"My main goal is to prevent similar incidents, by making recommendations needed to improve maritime security around the world," Captain Jason Neubauer, chief Coast Guard investigator, told a news conference in Boston.

According to Neubauer, the Coast Guard opened what it called a maritime council investigation on Friday, in collaboration with the FBI to find evidence, at the debris site about 1,600 feet (448 meters) from the direction of the wreckage, at a depth of about 2.5 miles or 4 kilometers below sea level.

The findings will be shared with International Maritime Organizations and other groups "to help improve safety frameworks for submarine operations around the world," Neubauer said.

He added that the Coast Guard was in contact with the families of the five people who died, with investigators "taking all the precautions at the site, if we find human remains."

It is known that Titan's manned submersible, which carried five people, disappeared while on its way to the ruins ofTEN on Sunday 18 June.

Following the search process, the US Coast Guard announced the discovery of Titan debris about 487 meters from the rubble last Thursday, estimating the underwater vehicle exploded due to water pressure and killed all of its passengers.

Those who were in the submersible Titan while missing were British billionaire Hamish Harding and Pakistani-born businessman Shahzada Dawood with his son Suleman, both British nationals. French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet and Stockton Rush, founder and CEO of OceanGate Expeditions, are also on board.