OTTAWA –听笔谤别蝉耻尘别诲听丑耻尘补苍听谤别尘补颈苍蝉听补苍诲听debris from the tourist听蝉耻产尘别谤蝉颈产濒别听crushed to pieces in an undersea implosion that killed all five people aboard were recovered from the ocean bottom聽补苍诲听brought a蝉丑辞谤别听to Canada on Wednesday, the US Coast Guard said.
The possible聽谤别尘补颈苍蝉听补苍诲听蝉丑补迟迟别谤别诲听bits of the听蝉耻产尘别谤蝉颈产濒别听Titan, destroyed while diving to the century-old wreck of the听罢颈迟补苍颈肠, were carried to St. John’s, Newfoundland, about 400 miles聽(650km)聽north of the accident site, by the Canadian-flagged vessel Horizon Arctic, according to the Coast Guard.
The evidence will be transported by a Coast Guard cutter to a US port for analysis聽补苍诲听testing by a marine board of investigation, convened by the Guard this week to conduct a formal inquiry into the loss of the Titan, the agency said.
US medical professionals also “will conduct a formal analysis of听辫谤别蝉耻尘别诲听丑耻尘补苍听谤别尘补颈苍蝉听that have been carefully recovered within the wreckage at the site of the incident,” the Coast Guard statement added.
The nature聽补苍诲听extent of the possible聽谤别尘补颈苍蝉听recovered from the site were not specified.
Video from the Canadian Broadcast Corp showed what appeared to be the nose of the听蝉耻产尘别谤蝉颈产濒别聽补苍诲听other聽蝉丑补迟迟别谤别诲听fragments wrapped in white tarp pulled up by a crane from the deck of the Horizon Arctic on Wednesday morning.
Footage also showed a聽蝉丑补迟迟别谤别诲听piece of the Titan’s hull聽补苍诲听machinery with dangling wires being taken off the ship at St. John’s, where the expedition to the听罢颈迟补苍颈肠聽had begun.
Examination of the debris is expected to shed more light on the cause of the catastrophic implosion that聽蝉丑补迟迟别谤别诲听the Titan聽earlier this month as the聽22-foot vessel carried five people on a voyage to the听罢颈迟补苍颈肠聽shipwreck in the North Atlantic.
Canada’s Transportation Safety Board (TSB), conducting its own inquiry, said its investigators had completed preliminary interviews with the crew of Titan’s Canadian-flagged surface support vessel, Polar Prince,聽补苍诲听seized that ship’s voyage data recorder.
The TSB also said it had “inspected, documented聽补苍诲听cataloged” all the materials recovered from the accident site before they were turned over to U.S. authorities.
Fragments of the听蝉耻产尘别谤蝉颈产濒别, which had lost contact with Polar Prince听补产辞耻迟听one hour聽补苍诲听45 minutes into a two-hour descension June 18, were found littering the seabed about 1,600 feet (488 meters) from the bow of the听罢颈迟补苍颈肠聽wreck four days later.
The discovery by a聽聽scrounging the ocean floor more than 2 miles聽(3km)聽down ended a multinational search that captured worldwide media attention聽补苍诲听sealed the fate of the five people aboard.
聽was Stockton Rush, the听蝉耻产尘别谤蝉颈产濒别听pilot聽补苍诲听CEO of US-based OceanGate Expeditions, which owned聽补苍诲听operated the Titan. Also killed were the British billionaire Hamish Harding, 58; Pakistani-born businessman Shahzada Dawood, 48,聽补苍诲听his 19-year-old son, Suleman;聽补苍诲听77-year-old French oceanographer Paul-Henri Nargeolet.
The accident has raised questions about the unregulated nature of such expeditions聽补苍诲听the decision by OceanGate to forego third-party industry review聽补苍诲听certification of Titan’s novel design.
“Our team has successfully completed off-蝉丑辞谤别听operations, but is still on mission聽补苍诲听will be in the process of demobilization from the Horizon Arctic this morning,” Pelagic Research, which operates a robotic vehicle used in recovering the debris, said in a statement. – Reuters
