All planned expeditions to the Titanic ruins cancelled, possibly for a ‘lifetime’
The Titanic submersible tragedy shook the world and seems to have a long-lasting on the science industry.
All planned expeditions to the Titanic wreck have been cancelled and likely not resume for years. According to reports, The Explorers Club said that as far as they know, no plans for scientific exploratory trips are in place. Commercial excursions have also been grounded. The esteemed club is an organisation based in New York.
It focuses on worldwide scientific expeditions and advancements. Many of its members are influential international figures, including the late Hamish Harding who was one of the five victims of submersible implosion.
The CEO of White Star Memories Ltd., a UK Titanic artefact company, David Scott-Beddard said that he does not expect any expeditions to take place “in my lifetime”. He told CNN, “The chances of any future research being carried out on the wreck of Titanic is extremely slim. I imagine there will be an inquiry, no doubt, after this disaster and much more stringent rules and regulations will be put in place.”
On June 18, 2023, OceanGate Expeditions’ Titan submersible bound for the Titanic’s wreckage that rests 12,500 feet below the ocean’s surface. It carried its founder and CEO, Stockton Rush, 61; British aviator, Hamish Harding, 58; famed Titanic explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77; business tycoon Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his 19-year-old son Sulaiman.
Experts estimate that the sub reached nearly 10,000 ft below sea level when it lost contact with its OceanGate mothership. It had covered approximately an hour and 45 minutes of the 2-hour journey.
A search was launched and after tensed days, a cluster of debris was discovered 1,600 feet away from the Titanic’s bow. It is believed that the sub was subject to a catastrophic implosion that instantly killed all occupants.
It is doubtful that the bodies of the five travellers will ever be recovered.
Meanwhile, the authorities are trying to determine whether to launch a criminal investigation into the disaster, as reported by Kent Osmond, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Superintendent. “Such an investigation will proceed only if our examination of the circumstances indicate criminal, federal or provincial laws may possibly have been broken,” he stated.
The devastating accident and the demise of its occupants will haunt the world and humans will likely not set eyes on the ghostly ruins for years to come.