Although the “unsinkable” Titanic has been resting below the depths of the sea since April 1912, the luxury liner has been a trending topic for about two weeks now. The surge in conversation surrounding the sunken ship comes after five passengers paid nearly $250,000 per ticket to explore the wreckage with OceanGate Expeditions. Sadly, they died less than two hours into the trip when their submarine suddenly imploded.
Today (June 28), the first photos of the ill-fated submarine have surfaced online. Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate Expeditions; British billionaire Hamish Harding, the owner of Action Aviation; French dive expert Paul-Henry Nargeolet; and prominent Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his teen son, Suleman Dawood, were aboard the vessel when it went missing approximately 900 nautical miles east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts while attempting to see the Titanic. The debris arrived in St. John’s, Newfoundland, an island off Canada’s Atlantic coast, this morning.
“It’s just a very eerie feeling here this morning, knowing that people were on that, and that’s all that’s left. Those are people’s sons and fathers and relatives. It’s just unfortunate,” Sarah Glenning told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. as she stopped her morning run to watch the pieces being unloaded as they arrived by ship. The outlet made note of a past interview Rush did in 2021 when he admitted there were safety concerns with allowing groups to tour the Titanic by sub. “I’d like to be remembered as an innovator. I’ve broken some rules to make this. I think I’ve broken them with logic and good engineering behind me. The carbon fiber and titanium, there’s a rule you don’t do that. Well, I did,” he said.
Pelagic Research Services operates the ROV (remotely operated vehicle) responsible for finding the submarine’s remnants. Today, the company shared a statement on Facebook saying, in part, that their employees “have been working around the clock now for [10] days, through the physical and mental challenges of this operation, and are anxious to finish the mission and return to their loved ones.”