The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSBC) has launched a formal investigation into the loss of the Titan submersible with five people on board. A team of TSBC investigators was currently en route to St. John’s, Newfoundland, to gather information, conduct interviews, and assess the incident.
Investigators in Canada have boarded support ship Polar Prince (IMO 5329566), which was used to launch the Titan submersible in their bid to understand what caused the vessel’s catastrophic implosion.
The Polar Prince was the Titan’s support vessel and had towed the submersible out to the area in the North Atlantic where it carried out its dive on Sunday June 18th, about 400 miles from St John’s.
On board were members of the support team and some family members of the victims. It was also involved in the search for the Titan after it lost contact about one hour and 45 minutes into its dive.
The 21ft submersible was operated by US-based OceanGate Expeditions, but was launched from Canadian-flagged vessel Polar Prince on June 18th on its final dive to the wreck of the Titanic. Contact was lost between the submersible and the Polar Prince about 1 and three quarter hours into the dive, which is when the submersible was thought to have suffered a catastrophic implosion.
The TSBC reported that there were 17 crew members and 24 people on board the Polar Prince at the time of the incident.
The Polar Prince is owned by St John’s-based Horizon Maritime Services. The ship entered service in 1959 with Canada’s Department of Transport Marine Service and was later transferred to the Canadian Coast Guard in 1962 as the CCGS Sir Humphrey Gilbert, operating as light icebreaker and buoy tender. It was taken out of service in 1986 and has since been rebuilt for operating in Arctic environments.
Canada announced on Friday that it was launching a safety investigation. Other countries’ government agencies may join in, but it was not yet known which would lead the investigation.
Horizon Maritime Services provides support to OceanGate Expeditions for its passenger trips to the RMS Titanic. OceanGate led previous expeditions to the Titanic in 2021 and 2022. OceanGates’ founder and CEO, Stockton Rush, was among the five people killed in the accident.
1959-built, Canada-flagged, 2,062 gt Polar Prince is owned by Miawpukek Horizon maritime care of manager Horizon Maritime Services Ltd of St John’s, Newfoundland, Canada. It is entered with Shipowners’ Club on behalf of the owner.