Titan anniversary: TSB still doesn't know if submersible was subject to government oversight
One year after a manned submersible was ripped to shreds over the wreckage of the Titanic, Canadian investigators say they still don't know if the federal government provided any oversight of the doomed missions.
The Marine Transportation Safety Board (TSB) released an update into its investigation on Monday, a day before the one-year anniversary of OceanGate's fatal trip to the Titanic in its Titan submersible.
While much has been discovered about the sub's design and its fatal flaws, little is known about who — if anyone — was responsible for ensuring the safety of the mission, given that it was leaving from Canadian waters.
Transport Canada has maintained over the past year that it did not have jurisdiction over the submersible.
The TSB appears to disagree.
"The investigation has also established that there are Canadian regulatory requirements regarding these operations, and there is an internal Transport Canada (TC) policy on passenger submersible craft dated June 2005," reads Monday's update.
"However, the investigation has been unable to confirm whether these submersibles have been subject to oversight by TC or other certifying bodies."
Titan imploded on June 18, 2023, en route to the Titanic. All five passengers were killed, including OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush.
The sub was initially reported missing, launching an international search effort that spanned four days.
OceanGate founder and CEO Stockton Rush reclines inside the submersible Titan, a sub used to explore the wreck of The RMS Titanic. (Zach Goudie/CBC)
The Canadian TSB is working alongside its American counterparts on the investigation. The U.S. Coast Guard's marine board of investigation posted an update on Friday, saying work was taking longer than expected due to the complicated nature of the situation.
There have been two salvage missions since the submersible imploded, and extensive forensic work to reconstruct the incident.
The U.S. Coast Guard hopes to hold public hearings before the end of 2024.
Submersibles a grey area
Canadian investigators say the Titan made seven dives inside Canadian waters, and three dives in Canada's economic exclusion zone.
It made 19 dives in international waters, including each of its missions to the Titanic.
For each of these dives, Titan left from a Canadian port and was towed or carried by a Canadian-flagged ship. Despite that, neither Titan nor its launch platform were registered with any Canadian agency.
The TSB says Titan wasn't the only submersible operating under these circumstances in Canada.
"Some are registered in Canada; some are registered outside of Canada; and some are not registered."
Former search and rescue co-ordinator Merv Wiseman has been outspoken on the issue, saying Transport Canada should have had jurisdiction over the expeditions.
"It happened in plain daylight in front of everyone's eyes," he told the Fifth Estate earlier this year.
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