Fresh images of the wrecked Titan sub have surfaced during the ongoing hearing, following assertions from a friend of Stockton Rush, who claimed the OceanGate CEO “knew it would end like this.”
The submersible tragically imploded due to the overwhelming pressure of the water during a rare expedition to view the Titanic on June 18, 2023.
The images display the remains of the vessel scattered 12,400ft under the North Atlantic Ocean, a depth more than twice that of the Grand Canyon.
Earlier this month, a hearing started to probe into the reasons behind the fatal implosion and to determine if there was any culpability.
Alongside Rush, four other passengers were on board the submersible, including 19-year-old Suleman Dawood and his father Shahzada, a 48-year-old British-Pakistani businessman.
British businessman Hamish Harding, 58, and 77-year-old former French navy diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet were also part of the crew.
The released pictures, part of the US Coast Guard’s investigation, show the shell of the submersible on the seabed, and another image highlights the vulnerabilities of the Titan sub via a close-up shot.
The submersible’s implosion, which happened about an hour and 45 minutes into a two-and-a-half-hour descent, shocked the world.
Karl Stanley, a close friend of Rush, was not surprised. He told 60 Minutes Australia that the OceanGate CEO “definitely knew it was going to end like this” – in disaster.
During the hearing, Stanley recounted his experience aboard the vessel with Rush in 2019.
Stanley explained: “He told us to be prepared for noises.
“He had recently done the solo dive on his own, and basically just said, ‘this is going to make noise’ and ‘brace yourselves’.”
At that moment, large cracking noises were heard.
Speaking to the Australian outlet, Stanley said Rush had designed a “mouse trap for billionaires” with the Titan sub.
Stanley claimed the tragedy was inevitable.
He added: “The only question is, ‘When?’ He was risking his life and his customers’ lives to go down in history. He’s more famous now than anything else he would’ve done.
“He definitely knew it was going to end like this. He quite literally and figuratively went out with the biggest bang in human history that you could go out with, and who was the last person to murder two billionaires at once, and have them pay for the privilege?”
Both Harding and Nargeolet, who tragically perished in the implosion, were suspected billionaires.
On June 18, 2023, OceanGate Expedition’s 21-foot submersible, Titan, submerged at 8am E.T. and began its journey to the Titanic wreckage off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.
Five people were aboard the vessel, which had a 96-hour oxygen supply.
The passengers included OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, 61, British billionaire Hamish Harding, 58, Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77, British-Pakistani billionaire Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his 19-year-old son Suleman.
The Polar Prince lost contact with the Titan about an hour and 45 minutes into its descent.
A few hours after the submersible was supposed to resurface, the US Coast Guard received a report of an overdue submersible.
On June 19, 2023, the US Coast Guard launched a large-scale operation when the vessel failed to resurface or make contact almost 24 hours on.
On June 21, 2023, sonar crews involved in the search detected “banging noises,” raising false hope that the passengers were still alive.
At 1pm E.T. on June 22, 2023, the submersible’s 96-hour oxygen supply was predicted to have run out, cementing fears for the crew aboard.
The US Coast Guard confirmed the Titan was destroyed by a “catastrophic implosion” – a result of enormous water pressure and failed materials – with the loss of all five people aboard.