WASHINGTON — The remaining debris left behind by the imploded submersible on a journey to see the wreckage of the Titanic, including additional presumed human remains, has been recovered from the seafloor, the U.S. Coast Guard announced Tuesday.
Marine safety engineers with the Coast Guard's Marine Board of Investigation conducted the salvage mission to recover and transfer the wreckage of the Titan submersible from the North Atlantic seafloor. The evidence was taken to a U.S. port to be catalogued and analyzed as part of ongoing investigations into what caused the catastrophic implosion.
Presumed human remains were recovered from within the debris and will be analyzed by U.S. medical professionals, the Coast Guard said. Initial recovery efforts in June also located presumed human remains among the wreckage.
The Titan submersible imploded on its way to tour the Titanic wreckage in June, killing all five people on board. Debris was eventually located about 12,500 feet (3,810 meters) underwater.
OceanGate, the company that owned the submersible, suspended operations after the disaster. Among those killed was Stockton Rush, the submersible's pilot and chief executive officer of the company.
The follow-up mission to the initial recovery operations was conducted under an existing agreement with the U.S. Navy Supervisor of Salvage and Diving, the Coast Guard said. Investigators from the U.S. and Canada's respective transportation safety agencies were present on the salvage expedition to evaluate evidence for their safety investigations.
The investigation is ongoing and public hearings will be held in the future.