Off The Record
New Audio Recording Of The Titan Submersible Appears to Reveal Moment of Implosion
New audio from the Titan submarine implosion in 2023 may provide more information about the horrific catastrophe.
As part of an ongoing investigation into the catastrophe, the U.S. Coast Guard released a 20-second clip that is thought to contain audio of the implosion, over two years after the underwater vehicle vanished in the Atlantic Ocean while on a mission to examine the RMS Titanic debris.
The Coast Guard described the muffled boom sound and subsequent chilling silence in the video, which was taken about 900 miles away from the scene of the disaster, as the “suspected acoustic signature” of the implosion that killed passengers Stockton Rush, Hamish Harding, Paul-Henri Nargeolet, Shahzada Dawood, and his son Suleman Dawood.
Interestingly, the footage, which was made public on February 7, also provided a more accurate estimate of the exact moment of the implosion. The audio was recorded at 9:34 a.m. EDT on June 18, 2023, approximately 90 minutes after the Titan sank off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, according to an onscreen notation at the beginning of the video. According to ABC News, the ship was thought to have lost communication with its operator around an hour and forty-five minutes after setting out.
As rescue crews worked to recover the passengers in the days after the submersible went missing, Coast Guard officials shared that a Canadian aircraft “detected underwater noises in the search area” in a post on X (formerly Twitter), causing rescue efforts to relocate “in an attempt to explore the origin of the noises.”
Unfortunately, the firm that organized the trip said in a statement four days after the trip that they thought the five passengers “had sadly been lost.”
“These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world’s oceans,” OceanGate’s statement continued. “Our hearts are with these five souls and every member of their families during this tragic time. We grieve the loss of life and joy they brought to everyone they knew.”
Continue reading to learn more about the five guests who lost their lives during the underwater excursion.
Shahzada Dawood & Son Suleman Dawood
The U.S.-based business OceanGate Expeditions’ deep-sea submersible Titan, which was taking five passengers on a trip to the Titanic wreckage, was reported missing on June 18, 2023. At a news briefing on June 22, the U.S. Coast Guard revealed that the ship experienced a “catastrophic implosion” that claimed the lives of all five of its occupants after a five-day search.
Among the casualties were British citizens Shahzada Dawood, a businessman who was born in Pakistan, and his 19-year-old son Suleman Dawood.
According to The New York Times, Shahzada Dawood is the vice chairman of Engro Corporation, making their family one of the richest in Pakistan. In Glasgow, Scotland, his son was enrolled in the University of Strathclyde.
Shahzada’s sister Azmeh Dawood told NBC News that Suleman had expressed reluctance about going on the voyage, informing a relative that he “wasn’t very up for it” and felt “terrified” about the trip to explore the wreckage of the Titanic, but ultimately went to please his father, a Titanic fan, for Father’s Day.
The Dawood Foundation mourned their deaths in a statement to the website, saying, “It is with profound grief that we announce the passing of Shahzada and Suleman Dawood. Our beloved sons were aboard OceanGate’s Titan submersible that perished underwater. Please continue to keep the departed souls and our family in your prayers during this difficult period of mourning.”
Stockton Rush
The Titan’s pilot was Stockton Rush, CEO of OceanGate. The businessman had a lifelong interest in exploration and established the research firm in 2009 in Everett, Washington. Rush, 61, has previously stated that he would “like to be remembered as an innovator” and that he fantasized about being the first person to set foot on Mars.
Along with organizing trips to view the Titanic’s remains, Rush also had an unexpected link to the momentous event of 1912: his wife, Wendy Rush, is the great-great-granddaughter of Ida and Isidor Straus, a couple who perished aboard the ship.
Hamish Harding
A day before the submersible vanished into the ocean, British billionaire Hamish Harding posted on Instagram on June 17th, confirming his involvement in the project.
“I am proud to finally announce that I joined @oceangateexped for their RMS TITANIC Mission as a mission specialist on the sub going down to the Titanic,” he wrote. “Due to the worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years, this mission is likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023. A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow.”
Harding—the chairman of aircraft company Action Aviation—said the group had started steaming from St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada and was planning to start dive operations around 4 a.m. on June 18. The 58-year-old added, “Until then we have a lot of preparations and briefings to do.”
His past explorations included traveling to the deepest part of the ocean in the Mariana Trench, telling Gulf News in 2021, “It was an incredibly hostile environment. To travel to parts of the Challenger Deep where no human had ever been before was truly remarkable.”
The Dubai-based entrepreneur also traveled to space aboard Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin New Shepard rocket last year and completed a round-the-world flight with the One More Orbit project. On his Instagram, Harding referred to his son Giles as a “teen explorer” and highlighted his passion for exploration.
Paul-Henri Nargeolet
Regarding the fifth individual, Harding mentioned him on Instagram as a team member, and a spokesman for French adventurer Paul-Henri Nargeolet told the New York Times that he was a passenger on the Titan.
He was a nautical specialist who served in the French Navy, according to the Times. The 71-year-old, who had visited the ruins 35 times previously, was a true Titanic specialist. According to the site, Nargeolet was the director of RMS Titanic, Inc., a business that investigates, recovers, and exhibits artifacts from the renowned ship.
He was a member of The Explorers Club, which was established in 1904, along with fellow traveler Hamish Harding.
The Titan
The submersible, Titan, was a component of an OceanGate Expeditions tour that investigates the remains of the RMS Titanic, which tragically sank in 1912, as Harding mentioned in his piece.
The company expressed its sympathies to the families of the victims. “These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world’s oceans,” OceanGate said in a statement. “Our hearts are with these five souls and every member of their families during this tragic time. We grieve the loss of life and joy they brought to everyone they knew.”
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