The Polar Prince’s grasp advised Coast Guard investigators that he recalled feeling his ship “shudder” across the identical time its communications with the Titan submersible have been misplaced final 12 months in the course of the Titan’s doomed dive right down to the wreck of the Titanic.
On Friday, Sept. 27, in the course of the two-week listening to into the 2023 Titan tragedy held by a U.S. Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation, officers have been proven an exhibit that includes a written October 2023 interview with the grasp of the Polar Prince, the Titan‘s assist ship, in regards to the incident on June 18, 2023.
In his written solutions to the Coast Guard’s questions, the grasp (the Polar Prince‘s captain) mentioned that “with the advantage of hindsight,” he believes he had “felt the Polar Prince shudder at across the time communications have been reportedly misplaced” however didn’t notice it till later.
“On the time, we thought nothing of it,” the grasp mentioned, noting, “It was slight.”
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On the listening to on Friday, Jamie Frederick, the Coast Guard captain who oversaw the Titan search-and-rescue mission, mentioned this was “the primary” time he had heard in regards to the “shudder.”
Not sharing that data with the unified command, he added, “could be unconscionable.”
“It’s a chunk of information we didn’t have,” Frederick mentioned. “It’s data that might have had a drastic influence on the search efforts.”
NTSB
Earlier in the course of the multi-day listening to, the final messages despatched by the Titan submersible earlier than it imploded have been revealed.
At 10:15 a.m. native time, a couple of half hour earlier than communications between the Titan and Polar Prince abruptly ended, the Titan advised its assist ship “all good right here.”
The Coast Guard mentioned Paul-Henri Nargeolet, a famous explorer who was aboard the submersible when it imploded, is believed to have been sending the ultimate spherical of messages.
The final one, simply seconds earlier than contact was reduce, was apparently in regards to the vessel dropping weights whereas close to the Titanic.
All 5 individuals who have been onboard the Titan died within the implosion: Nargeolet; Hamish Hardin; father and son Shahzada and Suleiman Dawood; and Stockton Rush, who co-founded OceanGate, the corporate working the Titan.
Human stays have been subsequently discovered as a part of the restoration mission, Coast Guard officers have mentioned.
