US Coast Guard declares ‘recovery of items from sea floor’ as priority in Titanic sub investigation

All five people aboard the OceanGate Titan submersible were killed

The US Coast Guard says the priority in its investigation into the fatal Titanic sub implosion is the “recovery of items from the sea floor”.

All five people aboard the OceanGate Titan submersible were killed as it dived to the wreck of the ocean liner in the Atlantic Ocean last week.

The Coast Guard opened a marine board investigation on Friday and is working with the FBI to salvage debris from the sea floor at a depth of more than two miles below surface.

Captain Jason Neubauer, chief investigator with the US Coast Guard, told reporters on Sunday, that that the “priority of the investigation is to recover items from the sea floor.”

A remotely operated vehicle (ROV( discovered debris from the Titan around 1,600ft from the bow of the liner days after it lost contact with its mother ship around 1 hour and 45 minutes into the dive.

Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman Dawood were killed along with CEO and founder of OceanGate Expeditions Stockton Rush, British billionaire explorer Hamish Harding, and renowned French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet.

Pelagic Research Services tweeted pictures of the Titan recovery mission on Sunday.

PELAGIC ODYSSEUS Continues Titan Recovery Mission. Photos approved for news media release from the 4th dive completed on Sunday. (©Pelagic Research Services, 2023) pic.twitter.com/kWwp9KST3z

— Pelagic Research Services (@PelagicResearch) June 25, 2023

“My primary goal is to prevent a similar occurrence by making the necessary recommendations to enhance the safety of the maritime domain worldwide,” said Captain Neubauer.

He said that the Coast Guard is in touch with the families of the five victims and that investigators are “taking all precautions on site if we are to encounter any human remains”.

Canadian investigators boarded the Polar Prince on Saturday “to collect information from the vessel’s voyage data recorder and other vessel systems that contain useful information,” said Kathy Fox, chair of the Transportation Safety Board of Canada.

US officials have said they are not sure if they will ever be able to retrieve the bodies of the victims.