- OceanGate Suspends Operations: Company Halts Commercial Activities Following Submersible Explosion
- Fatalities and Investigation: Five Individuals Killed in Titanic Submersible Accident
- Remembering the Victims: Profiles of Hamish Harding, Shahzada and Suleman Dawood, Paul-Henri Nargeolet, and Stockton Rush
Five individuals were killed aboard the vessel, including the chief executive officer of the expedition company, Stockton Rush.
The company that possessed the submersible Titan has ceased commercial operations, according to a statement on its website.
OceanGate has “suspended all exploration and commercial operations” as a result of the vehicle’s explosion last month during a voyage to the Titanic wreckage off the coast of Canada.
According to the company’s website, two visits to the ruins were scheduled for June 2024.
Hamish Harding, father and son Shahzada and Suleman Dawood, along with OceanGate Expeditions’ chief executive Stockton Rush and the submersible’s pilot, French national Paul-Henri Nargeolet, were among the five fatalities.
A week ago, presumed human remains were recovered from the submersible’s wreckage, along with detritus from the vessel.
Authorities are investigating the cause of the shipwreck, which has raised questions about the regulations governing such deep-sea voyages.
David Lochridge, a former employee of OceanGate, reportedly raised concerns about “safety and quality control issues regarding the Titan to OceanGate executive management,” but was met with “hostility” before being terminated, according to court documents from 2018.
William Kohnen, another industry expert, feared that the vehicle’s design and construction were not being inspected by an independent third party and warned OceanGate that a “single negative event” could destroy a 40-year “enviable” safety record.
Titan lost communication with the Polar Prince mother ship 1 hour and 45 minutes into the two-hour descent to the Titanic on 18 June, prompting an extensive search and rescue operation involving vessels on the water, aircraft, and remotely operated vehicles (ROVS) underwater.
As oxygen levels fell, crews raced to find the minivan-sized vessel.
When the debris field near the Titanic was discovered, the catastrophe was confirmed.
David Mearns, a rescue expert who knew two of the five victims, said of the implosion, “The only saving grace is that it would have been instantaneous – literally in milliseconds – and the men would not have known what was happening.”
It was revealed that the five occupants of the doomed submersible spent their final moments in the darkness listening to pre-loaded music and had prepared for the voyage by consuming a restricted diet and wearing insulated clothing for the colder depths.
Mr. Harding’s family characterized him as “a guide, an inspiration, a support, and a living legend,” while the Dawoods were described as “best friends” who “belonged together.”
The first British diver to visit the Titanic wreck described Mr. Nargeolet as an “extraordinary explorer and an incredible individual,” while one of Mr. Rush’s friends described him as a “risk-taker with a vision who wanted to move things forward.”
A statement from OceanGate stated that all five men were “true explorers.”
Harding, Hamish
Hamish Harding was a 58-year-old British billionaire and the chairman of Action Aviation, an aircraft brokering corporation.
Just before the voyage, he declared his intention to join OceanGate as a mission specialist.
Mr. Harding’s 46-hour, 40-minute, 22-second flight around the world via the North and South Poles is a Guinness world record.
His achievements led him to both the South Pole and space.
Shahzada and Suleman Dawood
Shahzada and Suleman Dawood, both British nationals, were father and son and members of one of Pakistan’s most prominent families.
Their company, Dawood Hercules Corp, invests in agriculture, petrochemicals, and telecommunication infrastructure nationwide.
Shahzada, 48, was on the Prince’s Trust International’s global advisory committee.
Suleman, a 19-year-old university student, aimed to break a Rubik’s Cube world record 3,700 metres below the ocean.
Paul-Henri Nargeolet
Mr. Nargeolet, aged 73, was a former commander who spent 25 years in the French Navy.
During his service, he was promoted to commander of the Navy’s deep submergence group.
He entered the French Institute for Research and Exploitation of the Sea after leaving the Navy.
Mr. Nargeolet supervised the recovery of over 5,000 artifacts after supervising more than 35 dives to the Titanic site.
Stockton Rush
Mr. Rush, CEO and founder of OceanGate opened the Titanic to passengers for the first time in 2021.
This was the third voyage of the Titan sub, and he was the vessel’s pilot.
He flew commercial aeroplanes in college as the world’s youngest jet transport pilot aged 19.
While concerns were expressed about the Titan’s safety due to a lack of international certification, the 61-year-old entrepreneur argued that regulators were stifling innovation and holding his company back.
