The first photos of debris from the Titan submersible emerged on Wednesday.
Wreckage of OceanGate Exploration’s doomed vessel was brought to the surface and off-loaded onto a ship in Newfoundland, Canada.
The pieces appeared crumpled and showed signs of pressure damage, Fox News reported.
First photos of the Titan debris | Image by Reuters
BBC News science correspondent Jonathan Amos reported the pieces include both end caps and the sub’s porthole with the window missing.
Investigative agencies, including the U.S. Coast Guard, have been recovering debris since it was discovered last week after a catastrophic failure.
The sub was found next to the wreckage of the Titanic at a depth of about 12,500 feet.
“They have been working around the clock now for 10 days, through the physical and mental challenges of this operation, and are anxious to finish the mission and return to their loved ones,” Jeff Mahoney, a spokesperson for the research team leading the salvage operation, told The Associated Press.
Five people aboard were killed. The dead included OceanGate CEO and pilot Stockton Rush; two members of a prominent Pakistani family, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood; British adventurer Hamish Harding; and Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet.
A friend of Hamish Harding’s wife told People magazine about efforts to send a remote-operated submarine capable of reaching the Titanic to look for Titan.
“When I heard it was Hamish, my heart dropped to my stomach,” Tracy Ryan said, adding: “I had been working behind the scenes for four days to get the Magellan sub there and get their permits approved because they did have the capabilities to dive all the way down to the site.”
At a memorial service Tuesday, Christine Dawood, the wife of Shahzada Dawood and mother of 19-year-old Suleman, said the father and son were “best friends” who “belonged together.”
“These past few days have been incredibly challenging as a family. Emotions from excitement to shock to hope and finally despair and grief,” German-born Dawood said, according to Sky News.
