Titan submersible: Timeline of events of vessel's voyage to 'catastrophic implosion'

An expedition by adventure enthusiasts to explore the Titanic wreckage has turned into a survival battle for people en route to the historic site. The search mission for the missing Titan submersible which was continuing since Sunday, comes to an end when the US Coast Guard and Oceangate confirms the death of five passengers on board on Thursday.

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Rescuers searched desperately to locate the submersible which disappeared while on a dive into the Titanic shipwreck. As per officials, the five people on board the submersible was left with less than 20 hours' worth of emergency oxygen left as of Wednesday. This 22-foot-long vessel hada single window with no seats and freezing temperatures deep down in the sea at about 12,000 feet.

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As thetragic news of the Titanic mishap left many questions unanswered, we look at the timeline of events leading up to the 'catastrophic explosion', killing all on board.

Friday, June 16

The OceanGate’s Titanic expedition sets off from St John’s, Newfoundland in Canada. The private deep-sea exploration company, OceanGate charged $250,000 for an eight-day trip that includes a dive into the wreck of the Titanic.

Saturday, June 17

One of the members of this expedition, a British billionaire and adventurer Hamish Harding posts on his Facebook on Saturday, “Due to the worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years, this mission is likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023. A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow.”

Sunday, June 18

8:00 am GMT: The submersible originally at this time started its descent, as per the post of Harding on Twitter. It actually started its descent later, according to the US Coast Guard.

12:00 pm GMT: The submersible starts for its two-hour-long descent to the Titanic wreck, nearly 4000 metres down, as per the US Coast Guard.

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1:45 pm GMT: The time when communications between the submersible and the surface vessel are lost is 1 hour and 45 minutes after starting its descent.

7:00 pm GMT: Titan is scheduled to return to the surface, the US Coast Guard says, but fails to appear.

9:40 pm GMT: US Coast Guard receives a report about an overdue submersible from the research vessel Polar Prince about 900 nautical miles east of Cape Cod on the US Coast.

Monday, June 19

The US and Canadian ships and planes start searching the area, some dropped sonar buoys that can help in monitoring to a depth of almost 4,000 metres, US Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger says. Officials also asked for commercial vessels for help.

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Tuesday, June 20

2:50 pm GMT: France joined hands with US and Canada in search operations by deploying Atalante, a ship equipped with a deep-sea diving vessel. It was expected to arrive late on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, during the day sounds were detected over several hours by Canadian Lockheed P-3 Orion aircraft, equipped with gear to trace submarines. CNN reported banging sounds at 30-minute intervals had been detected.

Wednesday, June 21

US Coast Guard, US Navy, Canadian Coast Guard and OceanGate Expeditions established a unified command to handle the search.

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6:00 am GMT: US Coast Guard confirmed Canadian P-3 aircraft detected underwater noises. It said remotely operated vehicle (ROV) searches were directed to the area of the sounds and the data was also sent to US Navy experts for analysis.

Thursday, June 22

As of 10:00 am GMT:Based on the US Coast Guard’s estimate, the approximate deadline for the air in the submersible will run out as the Titan could have up to 96 hours of air supply from the time it was sealed.

3:48 pm GMT: The US Coast Guard found a debris field which was discovered within the search area by a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) near the Titanic wreck.

8:00 pm GMT: Five crew members aboard the submersible Titan were probably killed instantly in a “catastrophic implosion”, the US Coast Guard said. Rear Adm John Mauger, the First Coast Guard District commander, said a remotely operated vehicle discovered the tail cone of the Titan sub and the debris is “consistent with a catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber”.

(With inputs from agencies)

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