Titanic submarine: Titan implosion to be probed by international agencies as teen’s mother speaks out

An international group of agencies is investigating what may have caused the Titan submersible to implode while carrying five people to the Titanic wreckage, and US maritime officials say they’ll issue a report aimed at improving the safety of submersibles worldwide.

Investigators from the US, Canada, France and the United Kingdom are working closely together on the probe of the 18 June accident, which happened in an “unforgiving and difficult-to-access region” of the North Atlantic, said US Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger, of the Coast Guard First District.

Salvage operations from the sea floor are ongoing, and the accident site has been mapped, Coast Guard chief investigator Capt Jason Neubauer said Sunday. He did not give a timeline for the investigation.

Mr Neubauer said the final report will be issued to the International Maritime Organization.“My primary goal is to prevent a similar occurrence by making the necessary recommendations to advance the safety of the maritime domain worldwide,” he said.

Evidence is being collected in the port of St John’s, Newfoundland, in coordination with Canadian authorities.

A 20-year-old man who had a lucky escape from the doomed Titanic sub disaster has revealed how he turned down his father’s offer of a “bucket list” trip because he feared the vessel wasn’t safe.

Sean Bloom, 20, told People that he and his financier father Jay Bloom almost signed up to join OceanGate Expeditions’ tourist trip to visit the Titanic wreckage.

The Independent’s Rachel Sharp has more:

A 20-year-old man who had a lucky escape from the doomed Titanic sub disaster has revealed how he turned down his father’s offer of a “bucket list” trip because he feared the vessel wasn’t safe.

Sean Bloom, 20, told People that he and his financier father Jay Bloom almost signed up to join OceanGate Expeditions’ tourist trip to visit the Titanic wreckage.

But, Mr Bloom said that he ultimately refused to go because he wasn’t convinced the Titan submersible would be able to withstand the pressure around 13,000 feet deep in the Atlantic Ocean.

More details have emerged about the father and son who died in the Titan disaster as the teenager’s mother reveals she was on board the support boat when the implosion happened.

Christine Dawood, mother of 19-year-old Suleman Dawood and wife to Shahzada Dawood, both of whom were on the doomed submersible, has revealed she gave up her place on the trip so her son could go.

The Independent’s Lucy Skoulding reports:

Voice recordings and other data will be reviewed as part of a US Coast Guard-appointed expert board’s probe into the catastrophic implosion of the Titan submersible last week.

American and Canadian marine authorities have announced investigations into the circumstances that led to the vessel’s malfunction after its chambers were found in a sea of debris 1,600ft from the wreck of the Titanic.

US Coast Guard Captain Jason Neubauer, who is chairing the investigation, said during a press conference on Sunday that he has summoned a Marine Board of Investigation, the highest level of investigation conducted by the Coast Guard. The board’s role is to determine the cause of the tragedy in order to pursue civil or criminal sanctions as necessary.

Voice recordings between the Titan and its mothership Polar Prince will be reviewed by investigators. The mothership’s crew is also being interviewed by different agencies.

Investigators with the Coast Guard have mapped the accident site and salvage operations are expected to continue, Cpt Jason Neubauer said. Once the investigation is wrapped — a timeline has not been laid out — a report with evidence, conclusions and recommendations will be released.

The services were held at Titanic museums in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, and Branson, Missouri.

Both museums are owned by John Josyln, part of a team that explored the Titanic wreckage in a famous 1987 televised expedition.

Investigators looking into the implosion of the Titan submersible are “taking all precautions” in case they find bodies on the sea floor, it has emerged.

Captain Jason Neubauer, who is chairing the US Coast Guard investigation into the implosion of the vessel, made the comments as the search and rescue aspects of the response came to an end.

British adventurer Hamish Harding and father and son Shahzada and Suleman Dawood were killed on board the submersible, alongside the American chief executive of the company responsible for the vessel, Stockton Rush, and French national Paul-Henri Nargeolet.

Salvage operations are continuing and investigators have mapped the accident site, Cpt Neubauer told a press conference in Boston.

He also said the convening of a Marine Board of Investigation is the highest level of investigation conducted by the US Coast Guard. It is unclear how long it will take.

Christine Dawood was on board a support vessel Sunday when she got word that communications were lost with the submersible carrying her husband and son, to view the Titanic wreckage.

She didn’t initially understand what it meant that the Titan submersible had lost contact with the ship an hour and 45 minutes into its voyage, Ms Dawood told the BBC Monday.

It would be four more days before she would learn the fate of her husband Shahzada Dawood and son Suleman Dawood, when authorities announced Thursday the vessel carrying five people had imploded and there were no survivors.“We all thought they are just going to come up,” she said.

“That shock was delayed about 10 hours or so. There was a time … where they were supposed to be up on the surface. When that time passed, that is when the … worry and not so good feelings started.”

Christine Dawood says she and her 17-year-old daughter, Alina, were on the Polar Prince when tragedy struck.

The Independent’s Graeme Massie reports: