Newly released audio believed to have recorded Titan submersible's last moments before implosion
A new audio clip released by the US Coast Guard is believed to have recorded the last moments of the Titan submersible before it imploded and killed all five people on board in June 2023.
Captured on June 18, 2023, the 20-second recording courtesy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Ocean Noise Reference Station Network had a doomy sound—the "suspected acoustic signature of the Titan submersible implosion."
It was recorded via a NOAA device approximately 900 miles from the implosion site.
Titan is the vessel meant to explore the wreckage of the ill-fated cruise ship Titanic, which hit an iceberg and sank in 1912 during its maiden voyage from England to New York. Over 1,500 people out of 2,224 passengers and crew on board died. It was found in 1985 and has become a lure for nautical experts and underwater tourists.
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said submersibles—unlike submarines—have limited power reserves and need a separate support vessel to launch and recover them.
Titan, roughly the size of a minivan, lost contact with its mother ship about an hour and a quarter into its descent to the bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean on the morning of June 18. It had about four days of emergency capability.
Its wreckage was found several hundred yards from the location of the Titanic after days of searching.
The Marine Board of Investigation said a remotely operated vehicle located the tail cone and other debris on June 22, 2023. The board said this provides “conclusive evidence” that the submersible experienced a catastrophic implosion.
Casualties include businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman, British explorer Hamish Harding, French submarine expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet, and Stockton Rush, chief executive officer of the sub's operator OceanGate Expeditions.
