Coast Guard says ‘debris and salvage operations’ are underway for the Titan submersible

The Coast Guard announced Sunday that it will be kickstarting a Marine Board of Investigation (MBI) into the Titan submersible that imploded last week on its way to visit the 1912 wreck of the Titanic.

“And my primary goal is to prevent a similar occurrence by making the necessary recommendations to enhance the safety of the maritime domain worldwide,” Chief Investigator Jason Neubauer said at a Coast Guard press conference Sunday.

“Upon receiving notification that the submersible Titan suffered a catastrophic failure with the loss of the five lives on board, the Coast Guard declared a major marine casualty and convened a report investigation commonly referred to as an MBI on June 23,” he added.

Neubauer said that the investigation is currently in its initial evidence collection stage, saying that “debris and salvage operations” are underway in collaboration with Canadian authorities in the Port of Saint John’s, Newfoundland. He said that the MBI will also be tasked with ensuring accountability for the parties involved in the Titan incident.

“The MBI, however, is also responsible for accountability aspects of the incident and it can make recommendations to the proper authorities to pursue civil or criminal sanctions as necessary,” he said. “However, any subsequent enforcement activities would be pursued under a separate investigation.”

The Titan submersible went missing on June 18 after it lost communication less than two hours into its dive. OceanGate, the company that owned the submersible, said last week that all five of the passengers the vessel was carrying were believed to be dead.

After a days-long search and rescue operation, the Coast Guard said last week that debris from the Titan was found about 1,600 feet from the Titanic, which lies more than two miles beneath the surface of the water. Coast Guard authorities said that the debris field found near the wreck of the Titanic was “consistent with catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber.”

The Navy also detected the sound of an underwater implosion around the same time the Titan submersible went missing, the service confirmed last week. The Navy said to the Associated Press that it would not use a large salvage system to retrieve the Titan submersible.