Titan sub latest: OceanGate suspends all exploration, commercial operations
Oceangate suspends all exploration after implosion
Oceangate has announced that it has suspended all exploration after its submersible imploded last month while enroute to the wreckage of the Titanic, killing all five people onboard, including the company's CEO. The company made the announcement Thursday with a banner on its website.
OceanGate revealed it has suspended all exploration and commercial operations following the catastrophic failure of its Titan submersible that killed five people last month.
The new development was announced Thursday with a banner on OceanGate’s website.
"OceanGate has suspended all exploration and commercial operations," the announcement reads in red text on its website.
The Everett, Washington-based company had previously offered expensive tickets to visit the ocean floor and the wreck of the Titanic.
A trailer featuring the OceanGate logo is pictured near a trailer and other equipment at OceanGate Expedition's headquarters in the Port of Everett Boat Yard in Everett, Washington, on June 22, 2023. (Credit: JASON REDMOND/AFP via Getty Images)
Debris from the Titan, which is believed to have imploded that day as it made its descent, was located roughly 1,600 feet (488 meters) from the Titanic on the ocean floor.
Stockton Rush, the Titan’s pilot and CEO of OceanGate, the company that owned and operated the submersible, was killed in the implosion along with two members of a prominent Pakistani family, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood; British adventurer Hamish Harding; and Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet.
A general view of the Port of Everett, with the OceanGate office. (Credit: Chin Hei Leung/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
The company, founded in 2009, charged passengers $250,000 each to participate in the voyage.
The implosion of the Titan has raised questions about the safety of private undersea exploration operations. The Coast Guard said it hopes its investigation will result in measures to improve the safety of submersibles. Other government agencies in the U.S. and Canada are participating in the investigation.
FOX Television Stations reached out to OceanGate for comment.
This is a developing story. FOX News, the Associated Press contributed.