Rosario Monachino
Officials have begun investigating voice recordings from the Titanic submarine disaster.
The Titan vessel went missing shortly after it started its excursion to the remains of the famous ship.
After spending days searching for the ship, debris was found on Thursday and shortly after it was confirmed that the five crew members on board had sadly died.
It has since been said that an investigation into the accident will be conducted by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada.
Hear what the US Coast Guard has said about the tragic submarine incident below…
Kathy Fox, the chairwoman of the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, has confirmed to CNN that investigators have visited the Polar Prince, the Titan’s lead ship, ‘to collect information from the vessel’s voyage data recorder and other vessel systems that contain useful information’.
It is believed that a voyage data recorder is stored on the ship’s bridge.
She adds that the purpose of this inquiry isn’t to assign blame but rather to ‘find out what happened and why and to find out what needs to change to reduce the chance or the risk of such occurrences in the future’.
Fox also mentions that crew members of the Polar Prince are already being investigated.
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CNN reports that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) will also be investigating the incident and will be looking into whether ‘criminal, federal, or provincial laws may possibly have been broken’.
At a press conference in St John’s, Newfoundland, Superintendent Kent Osmond of the RCMP says: “Today, the RCMP initiated an examination of the circumstances that led to the deaths of the five individuals on board the submersible.
“A team of investigators has been established with the sole purpose of answering the question of whether or not a full investigation by the RCMP is warranted.
“Such an investigation will proceed only if our examination of the circumstances indicate criminal, federal or provincial always may possibly have been broken.
“Following the US Coast Guard’s announcement earlier this week that debris from the submersible was located and all five on board were presumed dead, we will not look at the circumstances that led to those deaths.
“Our investigators are engaged and active in this matter as of this morning. Once a determination has been made as to whether or not a full investigation will be launched, we will provide an update at that time.”
The five passengers on board included British billionaire adventurer Hamish Harding, 58, Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his son Suleman Dawood, 19, French submersible pilot Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77 and Oceangate’s CEO and founder Stockton Rush, 61.
Rush had previously spoken about his fears for the safety of his ship, admitting that he was worried about it returning to the surface.
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Speaking on the Unsung Science podcast – which is hosted by CBS journalist David Pogue – last year, Rush said: “What I worry about most are things that will stop me from being able to get to the surface.
“Overhangs, fish nets, entanglement hazards. And, that’s just a technique, piloting technique.
“It’s pretty clear – if it’s an overhang, don’t go under it. If there is a net, don’t go near it. So, you can avoid those if you are just slow and steady.”
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However, he did defend his vessel by claiming that risks need to be taken ‘at some point’.
He added: “You know, at some point, safety just is a pure waste. I mean, if you just want to be safe, don’t get out of bed.
“At some point, you’re going to take some risk, and it really is a risk/reward question. I think I can do this just as safely by breaking the rules.”
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