Five sub-Titan dead were ‘real explorers’ – OceanGate

[ad_1]

June 22, 2023, 20:00 GMT

Updated 39 minutes ago

Photo courtesy of the Dawood family/Lotus Eye Photography/Reuters

photo caption,

Clockwise: Shehzadeh, Suleiman Daoud, Hamish Harding, Paul Henry Nargoleh, Stockton Rush

The company that operated the dives said the five people who died on the submarine Titan were “real explorers”.

OceanGate said in a statement that the men “share a distinct spirit of adventure.”

The five perished in what the US Coast Guard believed was a catastrophic implosion.

Parts of the submarine were found Thursday about 1,600 feet (487 meters) from the bow of the Titanic wreck. He disappeared on Sunday.

Among the men on board were Stockton Rush, the 61-year-old CEO of OceanGate, British-Pakistani businessman Shahzada Daoud, 48, his son Suleiman, 19, and British businessman Hamish Harding, 58.

The fifth man on board, Paul-Henri Nargolet, was a 77-year-old former diver in the French Navy and famous explorer.

Image courtesy of Engro Corporation / DH Group

photo caption,

Father and son portrait Shahzadeh and Suleiman Dawood in March 2023 at the Ingros Sports Weekend in Pakistan

At a news conference Thursday, US Coast Guard Admiral John Mauger said he believes the wreckage is consistent with the Titan submarine.

It’s unclear what triggered Titan’s destruction, but it turns out that the US Navy may have heard the implosion.

A Navy official told CBS News that an “acoustic anomaly consistent with an implosion” was detected shortly after Titan lost contact with the surface.

The ship’s disappearance led to a large-scale international search involving American, Canadian, British and French teams.

OceanGate said it appreciated their “commitment to finding these five explorers, and their hard days and nights of work to support our crew and their families.”

Al-Azma Daoud told NBC News that her nephew, Suleiman, was “terrified” before he went on the trip, but faced the journey because he was eager to please his father.

She said, “I feel infidelity.” “It’s an unreal situation.”

Mr. Harding’s family described him as “one of a kind”.

“He was an avid explorer – whatever the terrain – who lived his life for his family, his business and the next adventure,” the family said in a statement released by Mr. Harding’s company, Action Aviation.

“What he’s achieved in his life has been truly remarkable, and if we can take any small solace from this tragedy, it’s that we’ve lost him doing what he loves.”

Diving expert David Mearns said he lost two friends, Mr. Harding and Mr. Nargolet, “in a very horrible way”.

“Hamish Harding was an amazing character,” Mearns said, adding that Mr. Nargoleh was “truly a legend” in the field of deep-sea exploration.

explain video,

Admiral John Mauger of the US Coast Guard confirmed that the submarine Titan was lost

Richard Garriott de Cailloux, president of the US-based Explorers Club, of which Mr. Harding and Nargolet were members, also paid tribute.

In a statement, he said the organization was “sad” and that the men’s memories “will be a blessing and continue to inspire us in the name of science and exploration.”

How was the wreck found?

The wreck was found by a remote-controlled underwater search vehicle (ROV).

Separate pieces were discovered that allowed authorities to confirm that they came from Titan, including the tail cone.

Admiral Mauger said he had no answer as to whether the bodies of the five men on board were likely to be recovered.

“This is an incredibly unforgiving environment below the sea floor,” he said.

Admiral Mauger added that the ROV spacecraft will remain in the area as the investigation continues into what happened, but research personnel — including medical and technical experts — will be sent home within the next 24 hours.

Experts told the BBC that the collection and analysis of the wreckage, particularly the carbon fiber from which the main structure was made, may shed some light on the cause of the disaster.

“In the event that this had been a catastrophic failure of the main housing, the submarine would have been subjected to incredibly high pressures, equivalent to the weight of the Eiffel Tower, tens of thousands of tons, compressing the ship,” said Professor Blair Thornton. from the University of Southampton.

“We are talking about a very powerful implosion of the main residence.”

Earlier this week, authorities said Canadian aircraft detected sounds underwater, which some experts speculated could be a sign that the submarine’s occupants are still alive.

The Coast Guard now believes there is no connection between the noise and the location where the wreckage was found on the sea floor.

The Titanic wreck site is located about 370 miles (600 kilometers) off the coast of Newfoundland.

[ad_2]