NEW YORK: OceanGate, the US-based company that managed the tourist submersible that imploded during a dive to the wreck of the Titanic, has suspended all exploration and commercial operations.
The company did not elaborate beyond a red banner at the top of its website: “OceanGate has suspended all exploration and commercial operations.”
OceanGate had planned two expeditions to the century-old Titanic ruins, located in a remote corner of the North Atlantic, for June 2024, its website showed.
US and Canadian authorities are investigating the cause of the June undersea implosion, which killed all five people aboard and raised questions about the unregulated nature of such expeditions.
The US Coast Guard last week recovered presumed human remains and debris from the submersible, known as the Titan, after searching the ocean floor and taken to the port of St John’s, Newfoundland in east Canada.E xamination of the debris is expected to shed more light on the cause of the implosion.
The Titan lost contact with its support vessel during its descent on June 18. Its remains were found four days later, littering the seabed about 1,600 feet (488 meters) from the bow of the Titanic wreck.
Company CEO Stockton Rush was also among the dead. The victims are presumed to have died instantly when the Titan, about the size of an SUV car, imploded under the crushing pressure of the North Atlantic at a depth of more than two miles (nearly four kilometers).
OceanGate Expeditions charged $250,000 for a seat on its sub, but previous concerns over its safety policies came to light after the implosion. It was found in 1985 and has become a lure for nautical experts and underwater tourists.
