After the discovery of the wreckage of the submersible Titan, the fate of its crew is now known. But many more questions remain.
If the underwater implosion was heard on Sunday, why are we only learning about it now?
The information was handed to the US Coast Guard immediately, according to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ). Yet it was decided to continue the search and rescue operation to “make every effort to save the lives onboard”, the US navy said.
The key to the decision-making is probably in the details. First, the rescue operation: analysts could not be 100% sure that what they detected was Titan’s implosion. If there was a chance lives could be saved, it was important to try everything possible.
Second, the delay in revealing the information. The US navy, according to the WSJ, wanted to keep its sub detection capabilities secret. This possibly explains why nothing was initially said publicly – and why there were few details about exactly what was detected and how.
How was the sub allowed to operate if it hadn’t been certified?
According to experts, Titan’s operators got around what regulations there are partly by operating in international waters.
The vessel was not registered with international agencies, nor was it classified by a maritime industry group that sets basic engineering standards. Its operator OceanGate has said this is because it believed Titan’s design was so innovative it would take years for inspectors to understand it.
Bart Kemper, a forensic engineer who works on submarine designs, and who signed a 2018 letter imploring OceanGate to operate within established norms, said it avoided having to abide by US regulations by deploying in international waters, beyond the reach of national agencies such as the US Coast Guard.
Salvatore Mercogliano, a history professor who focuses on maritime history and policy, said companies running deepwater operations were perhaps underscrutinised because of where they operated.
Why was the debris only spotted on Thursday?
The simplest explanation is perhaps the best: the search team was looking for a 6.7-metre (22ft) submersible in a 14,000 sq mile area – almost the size of the Netherlands. Traces of Titan could conceivably have been found either on the surface, or on the ocean floor, 3,800 metres below.
While there were several vessels and aircraft available to the search team, the area in which they were operating and the number of possible variables they were dealing with were huge.
Will there be a formal investigation – and if so, by whom?
Investigation of the wreckage will certainly follow – starting with the salvage operation. Rear Admiral John Mauger of the US Coast Guard first district said investigators would first attempt to find out why the vessel imploded.
“I know there are also a lot of questions about how, why and when did this happen. Those are questions we will collect as much information as we can about now,” Mauger said, adding it was a “complex case” that happened in a remote part of the ocean and involved people from several different countries.
Ryan Ramsey, a former submarine captain in Britain’s Royal Navy, told the BBC the investigation would not be dissimilar to that into a plane crash, aside from the absence of a flight recorder. The broadcaster also reported that there was little precedent for this type of investigation, so it is unclear who will do what.
Will other operators still dive to the Titanic site?
It is unclear whether dives will continue, though hundreds have been undertaken since the wreck of the Titanic was discovered in 1985 – some commercial, some for salvage.
National Geographic reports that a British firm, Deep Ocean Expeditions, was among the first to sell tickets in 1998 – and it was still running dives in 2012. The magazine said the Los Angeles-based firm Bluefish also ran dives, while another British-based company Blue Marble sold tickets in 2019.
The tragic dive undertaken by OceanGate was one of 18 the company said it had planned for this year, with operations having also been carried out in the two previous years.
