16 September 2024 , 20:30
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The first image of the Titan submersible on the ocean floor has been released, showing the aftermath of its tragic implosion that resulted in the deaths of all on board.
The photo shows the vessel’s aft tail cone protruding from the mud at a depth of 3,775 meters, alongside other debris.
The titan submarine was pictured on the ocean floor
The Titan submersible during its descentCredit: AFP
Debris was recovered from the ocean floor after the tragedyCredit: AP
The snap was taken by a remotely operated vehicle during a search of the ocean floor after the horror dive last year.
It has come as part of a two-week long hearing into the tragedy being held in Charlestown, South Carolina, by the US Coast Guard.
The world was captivated when the sub vanished from sonar and failed to resurface from a dive 12,500ft down to the Titanic wreckage in the north Atlantic.
The hearing is exploring what went wrong on the day and the processes operator OceanGate went through when building the Titan.
The hearing heard the last words from crew to the support ship Polar Prince said everything was "all good here".
Audio became more spotty as it descended, with the Polar Prince asking if the Titan could see the Titanic on its display.
The Titan was still able to send one message when the submersible was 3,341m deep - an hour-and-a-half after it began its journey.
The message read: "dropped two wts" and was sent at 10.47am.
Six seconds after the message was sent the Titan was pinged for the final time at a depth of 3,346m.
There was no communications between it and the Polar Prince mother ship the indicated any trouble or emergency on board the sub.
The Polar Prince began to realise the worst had happened when it sent a message to the Titan at 10.49am saying it had "lost tracking".
They continued to message the doomed sub every two to three minutes, but by 11.15am they told the Polar Prince’s master there had been a loss of communication.
US authorities said a "catastrophic implosion" occurred, killing all on board instantly.
On board were British explorer Hamish Harding, British-Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, OceanGate’s CEO Stockton Rush and French deep-sea explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet.
The coast guard were eventually called at 6.27pm after the Polar Prince had spent three hours searching.
"Presumed human remains" were recovered from the ocean floor in two recovery operations.
The remains were taken ashore and were matched with the profiles of the victims on board the submersible.
The hearing also heard that in 2018 the vessel was struck by lightning which left a "significant blow to the structure".
That caused it to fail a test by a wide margin.
Rapid decompression also occurred during testing phases of the project years earlier, the hearing heard.
A bombshell new lawsuit claims the explorers knew they were going to die after a failed last bid to save themselves.
OceanGate, the company that built the Titan, released a statement offering their "deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of those who died".
The spokesperson said: "There are no words to ease the loss endured by the families impacted by this tragic accident."
The hearing is scheduled to last two weeks.