Titanic sub wreckage returned to surface

The US Coast Guard is in the early stages of an investigation into the submersible’s demise

Mangled debris from the Titan submersible, which imploded during a dive to the Titanic wreck in the north Atlantic Ocean earlier this month, was returned to the surface on Wednesday.

Large sections of what appear to be the Titan’s hull were brought ashore in Newfoundland, Canada on Wednesday, following their retrieval earlier in the day, along with landing skids used to touch the vessel down on the ocean floor. The submersible’s rear cover was also found among the debris, the US Coast Guard said.

It is hoped that the wreckage will help reveal the cause of the critical error that resulted in the sub’s implosion, which is thought to have occurred around an hour and forty-five minutes after it began its descent to the Titanic site on June 18. All five people aboard were killed in the incident, including the vessel’s designer, Stockton Rush.

What was initially a search-and-rescue operation has become a recovery operation being overseen by the US-based Pelagic Research Services. It said on Wednesday that its workers have been “working around the clock now for ten days, through the physical and mental challenges of this operation, and are anxious to finish the mission and return to their loved ones.”