Titanic submarine latest: Family of submarine victims speak of 'unfathomable tragedy'
The Titanic International Society has called for global regulation of deep-sea submersibles and an investigation into Titan’s design, safety systems and emergency protocols.
The Titan submersible imploded this week, killing all five on board, near the Titanic shipwreck.
Titanic International Society was founded to preserve the history of the Titanic and the events surrounding its sinking on April 15, 1912.
The call for regulation comes as questions have been raised over the submersible’s safety standards amid concerns over how OceanGate Expeditions had managed such an operation without taking typical safety tests.
The five killed were British adventurer Hamish Harding, Pakistan magnate Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood, Titanic expert Paul-Henry Nargeolet and the chief executive and founder of OceanGate, Stockton Rush.
On Friday, Charles Haas, president of the Titanic International Society, urged investigators to focus on the vessel’s safety standards.
“We believe that an extensive, detailed investigation by the US Coast Guard, the National Transportation Safety Board and/or their Canadian counterparts clearly is warranted,” he said.
“It should deeply inquire into the submersible’s design, structure, communication and safety systems, owners’ policies and emergency preparations and procedures, and the proximity, state of readiness and deployment of deep-sea rescue systems to the site.
“Additionally, intensive pre-service inspection of deep-sea submersibles should be required by international regulation. Just as Titanic taught the world safety lessons, so, too, should Titan’s loss.”
Titan destroyed in 'catastrophic implosion'
Titan was on its third visit to the wreck, having previously made trips to the site in 2021 and 2022.
The coastguard announced the vessel had suffered a “catastrophic implosion” on Thursday night following a four-day search.
The alarm had been raised on Monday after communications from the vessel ceased.
OceanGate co-founder Guillermo Sohnlein has hit back at criticism surrounding the vessel's lack of certification.
It follows comments from film director James Cameron that he had concerns about the craft.
“Any expert who weighs in on this, including [James] Cameron will also admit that they were not there for the design of the sub, for the engineering of the sub, for the building of the sub and certainly not for the rigorous test programme that the sub went through,” Mr Sohnlein said.
“The technology innovation outpaces the regulations. And oftentimes the people developing the technology innovations are in a better position to understand the risks and to figure out how to best minimise them.
“Again, that's why from what I remember the technology development programme – it underwent a rigorous test programme perhaps even greater than any classification agency would have would have required.”
But later on Friday emails emerged showing OceanGate’s chief executive Mr Rush had dismissed warnings from an industry expert.
In messages seen by the BBC, Rob McCallum, a leading deep sea exploration specialist, warned Mr Rush he was putting lives at risk.
"I think you are potentially placing yourself and your clients in a dangerous dynamic," he wrote in March 2018.
"In your race to [the] Titanic you are mirroring that famous catch cry: 'She is unsinkable'.
"Until a sub is classed, tested and proven it should not be used for commercial deep dive operations.”
Mr Rush called his concerns “baseless”.
Tributes paid to adventurers who died 'doing what they loved'
On Friday, tributes were paid to those who had lost their lives.
The family of British billionaire Mr Harding, who lived in Dubai, called him a “passionate explorer – whatever the terrain – who lived his life for his family, his business and for the next adventure”.
A statement issued by Action Aviation, an aircraft broker that Mr Harding owns, added that the billionaire died “doing what he loved”.
“He will leave a gap in our lives that can never be filled,” it added.
Relatives of Pakistani-born businessman Mr Dawood, who lived in Surrey, England, and his 19-year-old son, a student at Strathclyde University in Glasgow, announced their deaths with “profound grief”.
Mr Harding and Mr Nargeolet were well-known members of the New York-based Explorers Club, which supports scientific expeditions around the world.
“They were both drawn to explore, like so many of us, and did so in the name of meaningful science for the betterment of mankind,” said Richard Garriott de Cayeaux, the club's president.
“We're heart-broken for the families, friends and colleagues of those who were lost.”
UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly described the outcome as “tragic news” and said the UK government is closely supporting the British families affected.
OceanGate said its “hearts are with these five souls and every member of their families during this tragic time”.
“These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world's oceans,” it said in a statement.
Titan disaster may lead to more rigorous testing
Investigators are now looking into the tragic circumstances.
Professor of engineering at imperial College London, Rodney Smith, who specialises in structural integrity and examines how things fail, told The National alarm bells were raised for him when he realised Titan’s carbon fibre structure had been bonded to metal parts – which he says is an “incredibly tricky” engineering feat.
He fears there are a number of possibilities as to why it failed but believes delamination could be one reason.
Delamination is caused by continuous stress and pressure on the material and this form of failure can result in faulty performance during use.
“Possible scenarios are that this is a strong cylindrical structure made of carbon fibre, it is very light and very strong but could be affected by fibre delamination where the fibres separate from the glue that binds them together,” he said.
“There may have been a defect in the cylinder, there may have been damage from repeated depression and fatigue failure.
“The carbon fibre is attached to the middle piece which is made of titanium and therefore you have joints. Joining carbon fibre to metal is notoriously difficult to manage. Maybe one of the joints failed. My material scientist brain first thought, that is a tricky joint.”
Titanic tourist trips may now stop
He expects an immediate halt in Titanic tourist trips and believes industry standards will be raised in the future.
“I think there will be quite a rise in design standards and testing – it seems there were some steps back from rigorous testing but that will come out in the investigation,” he said.
“I do not think tourist trips down to the Titanic will take place in the near future.”
Mike Welham, a marine operations specialist and author, told The National it is unlikely regulations will be able to be imposed on subs like Titan.
“There might be a permit you have to get to go climb a mountain, but nobody checks to see that you've got all the proper equipment. You're just expected to have it,” he said.
There are maritime laws that govern some activities in the world's seas and oceans.
For example, the sinking of the Titanic led to the Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, which requires vessels to carry lifeboats or rafts for 125 per cent of the passengers and crew aboard, among other laws.
But the Titan did not need to conform to safety regulations because it operated in international waters, outside the laws imposed by so-called flag states – the countries where vessels are registered and sail from.
Any attempt to impose them would likely be incredibly difficult as it ventures into the territory of a country’s laws, said Mr Welham.
Mr Haas said it is now time to consider whether trips to the wreckage of the Titanic, which is 3,800 metres below the surface, should continue.
“It is time to consider seriously whether human trips to Titanic’s wreck should end in the name of safety, with relatively little remaining to be learnt from or about the wreck,” he said.
“Crewed submersibles’ roles in surveying the wreck now can be assigned to autonomous underwater vehicles, like those that mapped the ship and its debris field in high-resolution, 3D detail last summer.
“The world joins us in expressing our profound sadness and heartbreak about this tragic, avoidable event.”
