Canadian officials are interviewing crews to determine exactly what went wrong after the Titan lost contact with its mothership and ‘self imploded’ – killing all five on board.
The Polar Prince lost its connection with the vessel following its descent down to the wreckage of the Titanic earlier this month. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has revealed audio and commands between the submersible and the mothership will also be listened to as part of the investigation.
In a recent update, Chairwoman of the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, Kathy Fox, said Canadian investigators boarded the mothership to “collect information from the vessel systems that contain useful information”.
American broadcaster, CNN, also revealed the crew and family members were being interviewed aboard the Polar Prince. The mothership returned to St. John’s harbour in Newfoundland with its flags at half-mast on June 24 – as a sign of respect for those killed.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada says the investigation is to “find out what happened” and to “reduce the chance or the risk of such occurrences” in the future.
Authorities from the US and Canada are in the process of investigating the cause of the fatal implosion, with the US Coast Guard declaring the loss to be a “major marine casualty”.
The move is the latest in an investigation into the implosion which killed all five people who were aboard the submersible during the mission to visit the Titanic shipwreck.
ROVs (remotely-operated vehicles) found debris 1,600 feet from the wreck of the Titanic, with the US Coast Guard saying all five passengers aboard the submersible were killed after the vessel imploded.
For four days, an international search and rescue mission hoped to find the five people on the submersible.
Those killed were 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.
Heartbroken families of those lost in the tragic disaster have been issuing tributes to their loved ones throughout the past week.
Meanwhile, Police in Canada are considering a criminal investigation and are in “early stages” of the probe.
Superintendent Kent Osmond, of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), said a team of investigators has been established with the “sole purpose” of determining whether a criminal investigation would be warranted.
