By: Jackson Liu

Since 2021, an unmanned submersible named The Titan has taken several groups of people underwater to see the wreckage of the Titanic. The Titan is owned by the company OceanGate Expeditions, who also organized the trip. The most recent trip left on Sunday. After about 90 minutes underwater, the submersible lost contact with its support vessel when it was 700 kilometers south of St. Johns, Newfoundland.

Rescue efforts started on Monday, June 19th. Oceangate expeditions estimated that the 5 people still had 96 hours of oxygen left. Governments in the U.S., Canada, and other countries sent aircraft, ships, and other equipment to help with the search. By Wednesday, the search team had searched an area almost half the size of Nova Scotia.

In a news conference on Thursday afternoon, U.S. coast guard Rear Admiral John Mauger said a ROV discovered a piece of the Titan. It was about half a kilometer from the Titanic wreck. The debris looks like it suffered from an implosion. An implosion is when an object caves in with extreme force. This means that the victims probably died in the blink of an eye during the implosion. “I offer my deepest condolences to the families,” Mauger said. “I hope that this discovery provides some solace during this difficult time.” Many people wondered what went wrong. Mauger says there will be an investigation to find out what really happened.

The disaster of Titan raises the question: are submersibles really safe? The answer is usually yes. While other submersibles are completely made of titanium, making them relatively safe, only the ends of the Titan submersible were made from titanium. The rest was carbon fiber. Comparing durability, titanium is 10 times as durable and long-lasting than carbon fiber. So, as a message to future risk-takers who want to go under the sea on a submarine, maybe you should go on one that is made completely from titanium.