US expected to lead probe into ‘catastrophic explosion’

The US Coast Guard will lead the investigation into the disaster, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has said.

In a tweet on Friday evening the body said: “The U.S. Coast Guard has declared the loss of the Titan submersible to be a major marine casualty and will lead the investigation. The NTSB has joined the investigation and will contribute to their efforts. The USCG is handling all media inquiries related to this investigation.”

The other countries that could have taken a lead on the probe into how five people lost their lives in the Titan submersible included Canada, the UK and France.

The NTSB is independent US government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation.

Stockton Rush, the co-founder of OceanGate, and one of the five submarine passengers who died on the ill-fated Titanic expedition, was seen as a thrill-seeker by those who knew him.

After viewing the 2004 launch of SpaceShipOne, the first private effort to reach space, Rush told Smithsonian magazine that he decided he didn’t want to merely be a passenger on someone else’s expedition, but rather lead his own mission.

“I didn’t want to go up into space as a tourist,” he told the magazine. “I wanted to be Captain Kirk on the Enterprise.”

The US Coast Guard announced on Thursday morning that an ROV, or remotely-operated vehicle, discovered a “debris field” near the Titanic wreckage in the search for the missing submersible.

“While using ROVs eliminates the ‘human presence’ in the water, in most cases, ROV operations are simpler and safer to conduct than any type of occupied-submersible or diving operation because operators can stay safe (and dry!) on ship decks,” NOAA says on their website.

The ROV which found the debris field was on the Canadian vessel Horizon Arctics.

Online gamblers bet hundreds of thousands of dollars on whether the submarine that went missing on a recent expedition to the Titanic, in what online critics called a “dystopian” use of digital finance.

Since Wednesday, people wagered at least $300,000 on the fate of the vehicle using the crypto platform Polymarket, Mother Jones reports.

On the site, betters buy and sell shares on the outcomes of events using cryptocurrency, and can redeem their shares for $1 each if their guesses are correct.

More details in our full story.

The family of a British billionaire adventurer who died after the Titan submersible suffered a catastrophic implosion have paid tribute to their “dedicated father”.

Hamish Harding was described as “a guide, an inspiration, a support, and a living legend” following the news of his death on Thursday.

In a short statement, Mr Harding’s family said: “He was one of a kind and we adored him.

“He was a passionate explorer – whatever the terrain – who lived his life for his family, his business and for the next adventure.

“What he achieved in his lifetime was truly remarkable and if we can take any small consolation from this tragedy, it’s that we lost him doing what he loved.”

Mr Harding’s family said his death has left a “gap in our lives that can never be filled”, and that they were “united in grief” with the families of the others who had died.

“We know that Hamish would have been immensely proud to see how nations, experts, industry colleagues and friends came together for the search and we extend our heartfelt thanks for all their efforts,” they said.

Under an old maritime law, a shipowner defendant can start a proceeding by choosing, within certain limits, that it is not responsible for anything in an event of an accident.

The law, as explained to The Independent by Fordham Law School Professor Lawrence B Brennan, was used by the Titanic.

If OceanGate chose to petition under the act, it could “attempt to limit their liability to the post-casualty value of the vessel, which is zero.”

The Titan imploded while on an expedition to view the Titanic wreckage, killing all five passengers on board.

“It’s one of these bizarre things where the nominal defendant can commence an action. It’s more akin, intellectually, to a bankruptcy proceeding; it’s not procedurally akin, it’s a pure admiralty thing,” Mr Brennan said.

Though the law was amended last year with the Small Passenger Vessel Liability Fairness Act – which the OceanGate submersible could potentially fall under.

After the tragic incident on the Titan submersible that left five people dead, many are wondering if OceanGate could face lawsuits from the families of the victims or the government.

“Any claimants will most likely proceed, at least in part, under the Death on the High Seas Act (DOHSA),” Maritime Law Hawaii’s Andrew Porter told The Independent in an email. “The two aspects of this case that immediately come into focus are the seaworthiness of the vessel and the loss of future income of the deceased.”

Under maritime law, a shipowner has a duty to provide a “seaworthy” vessel for crew and passengers, according to Mr Porter.

He said that seaworthiness is roughly defined as “whether the vessel was fit for its intended purpose and voyage”.

Mr Porter declined to comment on the specific allegations against OceanGate’s submersible but said that the “crux of any plaintiff’s case” is the design and testing of the vessel.

However, he mentioned that unlike in negligence, “a plaintiff is not required to prove that the owner had prior knowledge of the defect, maintenance, or design flaw that gave rise to the incident” when questioning the seaworthiness.

OceanGate Expeditions CEO Stockton Rush said he was “personally insulted” after an industry expert raised concerns about safety flaws in the Titan submersible, which imploded killing five crew members on Sunday.

Former OceanGate consultant Rob McCallum warned Rush that he was endangering passengers’ lives and urged him to stop using the vessel until it had been independently certified, emails reviewed by the BBC showed.

Rush dismissed Mr McCallum’s concerns as “baseless cries” and accused him of trying to stop innovation in the deep-water submersible industry, the BBC stated.