The possibility of recovering the mortal remains of the five crew members who were onboard the lost submersible Titan, near the wreckage of the ill-fated Titanic, is becoming highly unlikely. The U.S. Coastguard informed that it was unclear whether the bodies could even be found amid the muddy seafloor and vast darkness of the deep. John Mauger, a rear admiral of the U.S. Coastguard, mentioned that the environment is unforgiving and it would be a difficult and expensive task to find the bodies. The crew members on board were the CEO of submarine owner OceanGate, a veteran French Navy diver, a British billionaire, and the heir to a major Pakistani industrial family, along with his son.
Pieces of wreckage from the lost sub were detected by underwater robots engaged in the search for evidence of the Titanic’s final moments. The wreckage confirmed that the sub had met a catastrophic hull failure but indicated that the crew had not suffered for long. The search will continue a little longer to retrieve more evidence, the U.S. Coastguard said.
Captain John Noble, a subject expert on the matter, stated that leaving the five to rest in peace where they are might be the realistic decision. Recovering the crew’s remains would be expensive, and the cost would have to be met from some quarters. Noble also suggested that it would be apt to pay respects to the Titan five in the same way as that of the hundreds of Titanic passengers.
The Titan sub lost contact with the surface approximately one hour and 45 minutes into its dive to the remains of the RMS Titanic on Sunday. Its operator raised the alarm with the coastguard after it failed to resurface later that day, ultimately engaging in the search that involved over a dozen ships, aircraft, and remote control diving robots. During the search, banging noises were detected in the water, but these were later revealed to have been misinterpreted ocean background noise, according to the report.
