Titan submersible, developed by OceanGate Expeditions, met with disaster on June 18 while descending toward wreckage of Titanic in Atlantic Ocean
LONDON: (UrduPoint/Pakistan Point News-Feb 13rd, 2025) The passengers aboard the ill-fated Titan submersible likely spent their final hours in complete darkness, listening to music and observing bioluminescent sea creatures.
This claim was made in a report by the American newspaper The New York Times.
The Titan submersible, developed by OceanGate Expeditions, met with disaster on June 18 while descending toward the wreckage of Titanic in Atlantic Ocean.
As a result, all those on board—including OceanGate’s CEO Stockton Rush, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood, British billionaire Hamish Harding, and French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet—tragically lost their lives.
In an interview with The New York Times, Shahzada Dawood’s wife, Christine Dawood, revealed that her husband was as excited as a child about the expedition and had brought a camera with him to capture images from the ocean depths.
Previously, in an interview with the BBC, Christine Dawood mentioned that her son, Suleman, had planned to set a new world record for solving a Rubik’s Cube at extreme ocean depths. He had even brought his Rubik’s Cube along and had formally applied to Guinness World Records for the attempt.
According to The New York Times, Christine Dawood and her 17-year-old daughter were on the support vessel when they witnessed the moment contact with the Titan was lost.
OceanGate had used the ship Polar Prince for the mission, and Christine Dawood had boarded it with her family a few days before the Titan’s voyage.
She explained that the daily preparations were made for the Titanic expedition.
“On June 18, everything seemed to be going smoothly, and it felt like they had done this many times before,” she recalled.
However, she grew anxious when she overheard someone saying that contact with the Titan had been lost.
Initially, she was reassured that such communication issues were common but later she was informed that the submersible and its passengers were missing.
According to the American newspaper’s report, OceanGate’s CEO Stockton Rush had advised the passengers to consume light meals before the journey and avoid coffee on the morning of the dive.
Rush also recommended wearing thick socks and hats due to the plunging temperatures in the ocean depths.
Furthermore, the passengers were told not to expect any visible sights during the journey, as floodlights would be turned off to conserve power. However, they were assured that they would witness bioluminescent marine life.
As a result, the passengers likely spent their final hours in complete darkness, with only the glow of computer screens for illumination.
Stockton Rush had also advised passengers to store some songs on their phones, which would be played through a Bluetooth speaker during the dive.
According to the US Coast Guard, the Titan submersible started its descent at 7:30am on June 18 but contact was lost just one hour and 45 minutes into the journey.
After days of searching, wreckage from the sub was eventually discovered. The authorities believed it is highly likely that the Titan imploded shortly after losing contact.
The US Coast Guard recently reported that the possible human remains had also been found among the debris.
The authorities are still conducting investigations into the cause of the tragedy in the United States and Canada.
