Titanic Missing Submarine Updates: ​Debris Found as Passengers Confirmed Dead

OceanGate Expeditions’ submersible, the Titan, disappeared on Sunday, June 18, only two hours after it was submerged underwater on its scheduled voyage to explore the remnants of the sunken RMS Titanic. The company has confirmed all five passengers are dead after debris from the submersible was found. 

Keep reading to learn everything we know about the Titanic submarine and its passengers.

What Happened to the Titanic Submarine Passengers?

The Titan submerged in the afternoon on June 18, for its voyage to explore the 111-year-old ship, which sank in 1912 after striking an iceberg in the Atlantic Ocean. The vessel is not a normal submarine that is able to return to the surface. The Titan needs its mothership, the Polar Prince, to guide it back from the bottom of the ocean floor. However, the Titan lost contact with the Polar Prince, and OceanGate contacted the Coast Guard for a search. 

Five passengers were aboard the submersible: the CEO of OceanGate Stockton Rush; British businessman Hamish Harding; Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his teenage son, Suleman; and French oceanographer Paul-Henri Nargeolet. OceanGate has confirmed their deaths and the Coast Guard has notified their families.

How Much Did the Titanic Submarine Trip Cost Passengers?

The five explorers embarked on the educational expedition to experience the depths of Titanic’s sunken ruins, paying $250,000 per seat, according to OceanGate.

The company marketed the voyage as not a tourist attraction but an opportunity to “become one of the few to see the Titanic with your own eyes.”

How Much Oxygen Did the Titanic Submarine Have Left?

The vessel was equipped with 96 hours of oxygen when it embarked on its voyage. Though the Coast Guard rushed to search for it, the Titan was estimated to have run out of oxygen in the early morning hours of Thursday, June 22, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. 

Was the Titanic Submarine Found?  

On Tuesday, June 20, the U.S. Coast Guard admiral John Mauger confirmed that they detected an unidentified noise while searching for the Titan. However, he explained to CBS Mornings that while it was a “focus to look at,” they still didn’t “know the source of that noise.”

Though CNN reported that the mysterious noise was actually a “banging noise,” U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class Briana Carter told People on Wednesday, June 21 that they didn’t have “anything at this time indicating any implosion or banging.”

On Thursday, June 22, the U.S. Coast Guard announced that one of their ROVs (remotely operated vehicles) had uncovered something within the parameters of its search. 

“A debris field was discovered within the search area by an ROV near the Titanic,” the Coast Guard’s statement read via Twitter. “Experts within the unified command are evaluating the information.” 

The Coast Guard said in a June 22 news conference that “the debris found is consistent with a catastrophic loss of of the pressure chamber. Upon this determination, we immediately notified the families.”

Five major pieces of debris were found. Initially discovered were a nose cone outside the pressure hull and the front end bell of pressure hole. The Coast Guard is continuing to map debris field.

When asked about body recovery, the spokesman said, “This is an incredibly unforgiving environment. The debris is consistent with a catastrophic implosion of the vessel.”

The submersible didn’t make it to the Titanic before imploding, as the Coast Guard spokesman explained, “This morning, an rov discovered the tail cone of the Titan submersible approximately 1600 feet from the bow of the Titanic on the sea floor. The debris is consistent with the catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber.”

One week after the U.S. Coast Guard’s tragic findings, wreckage from the catastrophic implosion was recovered and transported to St. John’s in Newfoundland, Canada, as seen in photos obtained by TMZ on Wednesday, June 28.

In a press release that same day, the U.S. Coast Guard revealed the discovered of “presumed human remains that have been carefully recovered within the wreckage at the site of the incident.”

“The evidence will provide investigators from several international jurisdictions with critical insights into the cause of this tragedy,” MBI Chair Captain Jason Neubauer said. “There is still a substantial amount of work to be done to understand the factors that led to the catastrophic loss of the TITAN and help ensure a similar tragedy does not occur again.”

The presumed human remains will be analyzed by medical professionals.

Why Is Cardi B Feuding With Titanic Submarine Victim’s Son?

Since the Titanic submersible has made headlines since its disappearance, music artist Cardi B weighed in on the situation after the stepson of Harding, Brian Szasz, attended a Blink-182 concert despite his stepfather being missing in the Atlantic Ocean.

“It might be distasteful being here, but my family would want me to be at the Blink-182 show as it’s my favorite band and music helps me in difficult times,” Szasz wrote in a since-deleted Facebook post on Monday, June 19.

Upon hearing about his concert attendance, the “I Like It” rapper slammed him in a video via her Instagram Stories.

“People are like, ‘What is he supposed to do? Be sad at the house? Is he supposed to go look for him himself?’” Cardi B asked in her video on Tuesday, June 20. “Yes. You’re supposed to be at the house sad. You’re supposed to be crying for me. You’re supposed to be right next to the phone waiting to hear any updates about me.”

She concluded, “Isn’t it sad that you a whole f—king billionaire and nobody gives a f—k about you? That’s crazy. I’d rather be broke. I’d rather be broke and poor, but knowing that I’m loved.”

Szasz responded to Cardi’s video via Twitter, writing, “What a pos trashy celeb [sic]. Cardi B trying to get clout off me and my families suffering. I went to a Blink 182 concert for coping rather than sitting at home and watching the news. Shame on you, Cardi, get some class!”

He then followed up in a separate post via his Instagram Stories to explain why he went to the rock band’s concert.

“Believe it or not, I have about $100 to my name,” he explained. “I can’t go out to the ocean. I have a legal situation keeping me here as well. I can’t get on a flight. I don’t have a passport. I was sitting here yesterday watching the news for two days straight. I go to a Blink-182 show because I have a ticket. It wasn’t like I was having super fun, it wasn’t like I was celebrating having a great time. I was just listening to some of my all-time favorite songs just nodding my head and just trying to get off the phone for maybe two hours or so and come right back into the drama. The submarine is stuck at the damn Titanic. There’s nothing I can do for the situation at all.”

OceanGate Receives Backlash for Job Posting

While the search for the submersible was still ongoing, OceanGate received major backlash when a since-deleted job posting for a Submersible Pilot/Marine Technician by the company went viral. 

While it is unclear when it was posted, in a screenshot captured by TMZ, the company listed an “immediate opening” to “help manage and operate” their fleet of submersibles and support vehicles. 

“We are looking for a committed and competent individual with a combination of strong mechanical and interpersonal skills who can work on sensitive marine equipment,” the listing read. “Perform regular maintenance and operate complex systems to support dive operations.”

Users quickly took to Twitter to slam the company and their insensitivity to the situation. 

“It really don’t matter if you’re an office worker for the damn billionaire CEO. These jobs will replace you in a heartbeat 😭😭😭 #oceangate #titan,” one user wrote, alongside a screenshot of the job posting. Another added, “Remember when everyone was saying, ‘Don’t kill yourself for a job that would replace you within two weeks?’ Well it hasn’t even been one week … “