Photo credit: www.popsci.com
NOAA Releases Audio of OceanGate Titan Implosion
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has made public an audio recording capturing the moment of the tragic implosion of the OceanGate Titan submersible. This significant release, made available through the US Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS), marks the first time government officials have shared such information since the calamitous incident, where five passengers lost their lives during an expedition to the Titanic wreck in June 2023.
The audio was recorded on June 18, 2023, by a passive acoustic device situated nearly 900 miles away from the site of the incident. The clip features an initial period of silence before transitioning to a deep rumbling sound approaching 400 Hz, as highlighted in an accompanying frequency analysis.
Established in 2007, OceanGate began offering immersive dives to the Titanic’s resting place in 2021. For up to $250,000 per ticket, adventurers could board the 22-foot Titan and embark on a 2.5-mile descent into the depths of the North Atlantic Ocean, a UNESCO underwater heritage site. Despite several successful excursions over two years, Titan frequently experienced technical difficulties and communication blackouts, drawing attention from maritime safety experts.
Concerns were raised about the vessel’s design and operational protocols. A letter from a maritime organization in 2018 cautioned OceanGate, stating, “Your marketing material advertises that the Titan design will meet or exceed the DNV-GL safety standards, yet it does not appear that OceanGate has the intention of following DNV-GL class rules.” The letter criticized the misleading claims regarding safety compliance and indicated a breach of the industry-wide professional code of conduct.
On the date of the incident, communications from Titan ceased about 103 minutes after descending, including CEO Stockton Rush among the passengers. Following a tense international search that covered more than 10,000 square miles, remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) confirmed the presence of wreckage near the Titanic on June 22. Expert analysis suggested that the Titan imploded almost instantaneously, attributed to a failure in its hull structure due to immense underwater pressures amounting to 5,500 pounds per square inch (psi). This extreme force likely caused the implosion to occur in a fraction of a second—less than 20 milliseconds—too swift for human perception.
The final salvage operation conducted by the US Coast Guard took place in October 2023, leading to the recovery of additional presumed human remains. During public hearings in September 2024, conducted by the Marine Board of Investigation, it was reported that the implosion resulted in a debris field of approximately 30,000 square meters. While many fragments were retrieved, some larger pieces of wreckage remain on the ocean floor, situated about 1,600 feet from the Titanic.
Source
www.popsci.com