A new video depicting the catastrophic implosion of the Titanic sub has gone viral, amassing an impressive 6.6 million views within twelve days of being live.
It comes after the US Coast Guard announced that they had found ‘presumed human remains’ alongside the debris they recovered from the ocean floor.
The heartbreaking news that the 5 people on board the vessel are believed to have sadly died broke last month. It came after debris was found that was “consistent with catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber.”
The sub, named Titan, was carrying 5 people down to the bottom of the ocean to see the Titanic’s shipwreck in real life, which is located 3,800m below sea level, and is 370 miles off the coast of Newfoundland. The trip is thought to have cost £195,000 per head.
It vanished on the morning of June 18 after losing contact with its mothership MV Polar Prince roughly 1 hour and 45 minutes into the vessel’s 2-hour descent.
On board the sub was Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate Expeditions, the company who own the vessel and conduct the tourist trips. Alongside him was the British billionaire Hamish Harding, British-based Pakistani millionaire Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman. The fifth person on board was Paul-Henry Nargeolet, a French submersible pilot who was considered one of the world’s leading experts on the Titanic.
When the underwater vessel lost contact, the search effort hugely ramped up after authorities estimated that they were quickly running out of oxygen.
An update gave authorities more hope, as an aircraft detected “underwater noises in the search area.”
“As a result, ROV (remotely operated vehicle) operations were relocated in an attempt to explore the origin of the noises. Those ROV searches have yielded negative results but continue,” the Coast Guard tweeted.
It was additionally reported that a second aircraft with underwater detection abilities detected “banging sounds.”
However, in the wake of the heartbreaking discovery of the debris, the Coast Guard confirmed that these sounds were likely just ‘background ocean noise’.
Rear Admiral John Mauger explained to Sky News: “We’ve taken that information and shared it with top leading experts from the US Navy and the Canadian Navy, and they’re working on the analysis of that information, they’re continuing to work on the analysis of that information.
“The initial reports is that there’s a lot of the sounds that were generated were from background ocean noise, but they continue to … look for all available information there.”
OceanGate, who ran the expedition, released a statement addressing the heartbreaking loss.
“We now believe that our CEO Stockton Rush, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood, Hamish Harding, and Paul-Henri Nargeolet, have sadly been lost,” it began.
“These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world’s oceans.
“Our hearts are with these 5 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.”
Debris from the sub were brought ashore in Newfoundland, giving a first look at the remains of the vessel.
Pictures from the port show the debris covered in tarp as they are transferred onto trucks to be taken away.
The US Coast Guard announced that they have also recovered ‘presumed human remains’ from “within the wreckage” of the sub.
Public interest in what happened to the sub remains high, as evidenced by a new YouTube video that depicts the vessel’s implosion. It was only posted eleven days ago, but has already amassed over 6 million views by the time of writing.
The clip, which was uploaded by AiTelly, details how the implosion occurred, and why it happened.
Viewers have taken to the comments to share their thoughts.
“After watching Cameron’s submersible, it’s clear how dangerous this one was,” one person wrote.
A second commented: “Stockton Rush was clearly insane. This thing was glued together, there are videos showing its construction. No one in the right mind would do that and expect it to stay together at 13,000 ft below sea level. The four passengers gambled their lives and lost. RIP.”
