Titanic sub incident This article is more than 6 months old

Titan submersible: timeline of vessel’s voyage

This article is more than 6 months old

As the US Coast Guard announces the vessel suffered a ‘catastrophic implosion’, we chart its journey over the last week

Friday

The expedition sets off from St John’s, Newfoundland, Canada.

Saturday

The British billionaire and adventurer Hamish Harding, one of those onboard the submersible, posts on Facebook: “Due to the worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years, this mission is likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023. A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow.”

The Titan submersible, as seen in an undated handout photo issued by OceanGate Expeditions. Photograph: OceanGate Expeditions/PA

Sunday

8am GMT/4am ET: Time the submersible originally aimed to start its descent, according to a post by Harding on Instagram. It actually started its descent later, according to the US Coast Guard.

12pm GMT/8am ET: The submersible starts what should be a two-hour descent to the Titanic wreck, nearly 4,000 metres down, according to the US Coast Guard.

1.45pm GMT/9.45am ET: Communications between the submersible and the surface vessel are lost 1 hour and 45 minutes after starting its descent.

The Titan submersible is seen during a descent in an undated photo. Photograph: OceanGate Expeditions/AFP/Getty Images

7pm GMT/3pm ET: Titan is scheduled to return to the surface, the US Coast Guard says, but fails to appear.

9.40pm GMT/5.40pm ET: US Coast Guard receives report about an overdue submersible from the research vessel Polar Prince about 900 nautical miles east of Cape Cod on the US coast.

Monday

US and Canadian ships and planes are swarming the area, some dropping sonar buoys that can monitor to a depth of almost 4,000 metres, US Coast Guard R Adm John Mauger says. Officials have also asked commercial vessels for help.

Tuesday

2.50pm GMT/10am ET: France says it will help with search by deploying Atalante, a ship equipped with a deep-sea diving vessel. It is expected to arrive late on Wednesday.

The Titan submersible is seen launching from a platform in an undated photo. Photograph: OceanGate Expeditions/AFP/Getty Images

During the day: Sounds detected over several hours by Canadian Lockheed P-3 Orion aircraft, equipped with gear to trace submarines. CNN and Rolling Stone magazine report banging sounds at 30-minute intervals had been detected.

Wednesday

US Coast Guard, US Navy, Canadian Coast Guard and OceanGate Expeditions establish a unified command to handle the search.

6am GMT/2am ET: US Coast Guard confirms Canadian P-3 aircraft detected underwater noises. It says remotely operated vehicle (ROV) searches are directed to the area of the sounds and the data is also sent to US Navy experts for analysis.

5pm GMT/1pm ET: US Coast Guard says more underwater noises were detected and that the search area had increased to “two times the size of Connecticut”.

Late on Wednesday: More vessels, including a French research ship, equipped with a deep-sea diving vessel, were due to arrive to assist the “complex response effort”, which covers an area twice the size of Connecticut.

00:01:45Titanic sub search: US Coast Guard says noises were heard yesterday – video

Thursday

10am GMT/6am ET: Approximate deadline for when the air in the submersible was expected to run out, based on the US Coast Guard’s estimate that the Titan could have up to 96 hours of air supply from the time it was sealed.

Around 12pm GMT/8am ET: Two remotely operated vehicles have been deployed as part of the search effort. Experts say it is still unclear whether the submersible is on the surface or on the seabed, and warn “weeks of intense survey” may be required to locate it.

Around 3pm GMT/11am ET: Canadian navy ship carrying a medical team specialising in dive medicine arrives on the scene.

3.48pm GMT/ 11.48am ET: The US Coast Guard say a debris field was discovered within the search area by a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) near the Titanic wreck.

7pm GMT/ 3pm ET: US Coast Guard to hold press conference after announcing discovery of debris.

8pm GMT/4pm ET: Five crew members aboard the submersible Titan were probably killed instantly in a “catastrophic implosion”, the US Coast Guard said. Rear Adm John Mauger, the First Coast Guard District commander, said a remotely operated vehicle discovered the tail cone of the Titan sub and the debris is “consistent with a catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber”. A large debris field containing five major pieces of the vessel wasspotted by a remotely operated vehicle scouring the seabed near the Titanic wreck site 400 miles south of St John’s, Newfoundland, officials said.

00:01:47Titan crew have died after ‘catastrophic implosion’ of submersible, US Coast Guard says – video

  • This article was amended on 22 June 2023 to correct the time conversion from GMT to ET.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEoKyaqpSerq96wqikaK%2Bfp7mle5FpaWxnmqq7cH6QaKuirJGjtqR50q6ZZqyZorKttc2eZK2hpJa7br%2FUm6SeqqOer62xjKagrKuZo7RuwsSsqp6k