Medical professionals will formally analyse presumed human remains recovered from the wreckage of the Titan submersible.
The US Coast Guard (USCG) said it received debris and evidence from the sea floor at the site of the deep-sea vessel’s fatal implosion, which killed five people.
British adventurer Hamish Harding and father and son Shahzada and Suleman Dawood were killed on board the vessel near the wreckage of the Titanic, alongside OceanGate Expeditions’ chief executive, Stockton Rush, and French national Paul-Henri Nargeolet.
Large pieces of debris from Titan were transported to St John’s harbour on Wednesday by the Horizon Arctic ship, where it was seen being unloaded by a crane.
Speaking after the evidence was recovered, the Marine Board of Investigation’s (MBI) chairman, Captain Jason Neubauer, said: “I am grateful for the co-ordinated international and inter-agency support to recover and preserve this vital evidence at extreme offshore distances and depths.
“The evidence will provide investigators from several international jurisdictions with critical insights into the cause of this tragedy.
“There is still a substantial amount of work to be done to understand the factors that led to the catastrophic loss of the Titan and help ensure a similar tragedy does not occur again.”
The USCG said the MBI intends to transport the evidence to a port in the US where they will be able to facilitate further analysis and testing.
The MBI will continue evidence collection and witness interviews to inform a public hearing about the incident, the USCG added.
Pelagic Research Services, whose remote operating vehicle discovered the debris fields, said on Wednesday its team is “still on mission”.
A statement said: “They have been working around the clock now for 10 days, through the physical and mental challenges of this operation, and are anxious to finish the mission and return to their loved ones.”
Royal Canadian Mounted Police previously said they are looking into the five deaths.
Safety investigators from the Transportation Safety Board (TSB) of Canada made inquiries on Titan’s main support ship, the Polar Prince, after it docked in St John’s harbour on Saturday.
The TSB said it has inspected, documented, and catalogued the materials from the debris of Titan for its safety investigation.
The safety body said its investigation team has taken possession of the deep-sea vessel’s voyage data recorder, which has been sent to its engineering laboratory in Ottawa for further analysis.
The TSB said it will continue to co-operate with the US, UK, and France in accordance with international agreements, as they are “substantially interested states” under the International Maritime Organisation Casualty Investigation Code.
The Titan submersible lost contact with tour operator OceanGate Expeditions an hour and 45 minutes into the two-hour descent to the wreckage, with the vessel reported missing eight hours after communication was lost.
