US Coast Guard finds surprising items in Titan submersible investigation
Image courtesy of Discovery Channel documentary
A new documentary about the disaster of the OceanGate submersible which imploded 3,800 meters below sea level has been released by the Discovery Channel. It claims unfettered access to the US Coast Guard and reveals that, amongst the debris a pen belonging to Oceangate CEO Stockton Rush survived.
“We were getting all hands in and separating what needed to be considered what was human remains, and what was just other wreckage pieces,” says one of the documentary participants.
“Inside the sleeve of his suit was his ink pen, business cards and stickers for the Titanic — the pen was still intact, it hadn’t been broken.”
The sub imploded in June 2023, on its final mission to the Titanic wreckage, claiming the lives of all five people on board. The documentary shares test drive footage and says it has ‘unprecedented access’ to the United States Coast Guard’s Marine Board of Investigation.
@discovery Replying to @Evil.monster While examining the Titan sub’s wreckage, the Coast Guard discovered Stockton Rush’s pen, still intact. Watch #ImplosionTheTitanicSubDisaster TONIGHT at 9p on Discovery. #Titanic #submarine #oceanexploration ♬ original sound – Discovery
In a short clip, posted to TikTok, the member of the US Coast Guard breaks down the process of sorting through the remains, explaining that the Titan’s ‘endcap’ was still intact.
“Let’s consider the endcap to be a bowl, a mixing bowl,” the official says. “Items that were inside of the Titan at the time now become encased inside of the endcap.”
The documentary, Implosion: the Titanic Sub Disaster, claims it uncovers the extraordinary story of what caused the disaster and how it might have been prevented. (The US Coast Guard finished recovering the debris from the Titan submersible in October 2023).
“The Titan story captivated the world’s attention from the moment the vessel lost contact with the surface,” says Howard Lee, chief creative officer of US Networks and president of Discovery Networks. “In this special, we will probe into the fascination with exploration, the risks that we are willing to take, and the ultimate price one can pay when pushing the limits of technology. It is a compelling journey into the haunting reality of this tragedy.”
The documentary explores the factors leading up to the implosion, from the founding of the OceanGate company by CEO Stockton Rush to the start of construction of the Titan. That was a first-of-its-kind carbon fibre submersible designed to take tourists down to the Titanic. The show provides a detailed account of the final mission, culminating in the tragic implosion, and igniting conversations about the necessary parameters of deep-sea exploration and safety protocol in the aftermath.
Seemingly there are candid interviews with technicians and deep-sea explorers involved with the Titan’s test dive, as well as longtime friends and colleagues of Stockton Rush. The show also delves into the insufficient protocols and warning signs that were detected on the submersible – and ultimately ignored.
It is a co-production of Discovery Channel in the US, BBC Two and iPlayer in the UK, CBC in Canada, and ZDF in Germany, with the additional support of the UK Global Screen Fund, Rogers Documentary Fund and The Canada Media Fund.
