Nearly a year after five people died when the OceanGate Titan submersible imploded on its way down to view the Titanic, the U.S. Coast Guard has given an update on its investigation into the tragedy.
The Coast Guard said Friday it is still "actively investigating" the factors that led to the deaths of U.K. billionaire Hamish Harding, OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, father-son pair Shahzada Dawood and Suleman Dawood, and French mariner Paul-Henry Nargeolet, but it "will take longer than initially projected to complete."
The five men were killed on June 18 last year, an hour and 45 minutes into the submersible’s trek to the bottom of the North Atlantic, where the doomed Titanic sits at the dangerous depth of 12,500 feet below the surface.
"The investigation into the implosion of the Titan submersible is a complex and ongoing effort," said the Coast Guard’s Marine Board Investigation (MBI) Chair Jason Neubauer. "We are working closely with our domestic and international partners to ensure a comprehensive understanding of the incident."
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The Coast Guard originally said it expected the investigation to be done in a year, but Friday's release stated factors have extended it, including the need to contract two salvage missions to get vital evidence, as well as required extensive forensic testing.
"We’re grateful for the international and inter-agency cooperation which has been vital in recovering, preserving and forensically testing evidence from a remote offshore region and extreme depth," Neubauer said. "The MBI is committed to ensuring that we fully understand the factors that led to this tragedy in order to prevent similar occurrences in the future."
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The MBI said it planned to hold a public hearing session by the end of the year in regard to the investigation.
"As the one-year anniversary date approaches, the MBI extends its deepest condolences to the families and friends of the five individuals who lost their lives during the incident," the Coast Guard said in the release.
After the submersible lost contact with its mothership last year, a nearly week-long search was launched to find the vessel, with investigators initially thinking the passengers may have still been alive and trapped with limited oxygen.
The debris from the Titan was found four days later not far from the wreckage of the Titanic and was eventually brought to the surface for the investigation.
The Coast Guard confirmed the men were killed by a "catastrophic implosion" of the vessel, adding that the Navy had heard an underwater noise consistent with an implosion on June 18, at the time the Titan lost contact.
After the submersible was recovered later in June last year, the Coast Guard said that "presumed human remains" had been found.
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"United States medical professionals will conduct a formal analysis of presumed human remains that have been carefully recovered within the wreckage at the site of the incident," the MBI said at the time.
