Canadian police are considering a criminal investigation into the catastrophic implosion of Titanic’s tourist submarine, which killed five men as the mothership returned to port.
Superintendent Kent Osmond of the RCMP told a news conference today that consideration had begun on whether or not a criminal investigation was necessary.
The supply ship Polar Prince arrived in St. John’s Harbor, Newfoundland on Saturday morning and docked around 8:15 a.m. local time as the sun broke through the morning haze.
Crew members looked somber as they received a briefing aboard the ship that sailed eight days ago with 24 people on board, five of whom died in the submarine disaster.
Police and safety investigators were seen boarding the ship after Canada’s Transportation Safety Board (TSB) announced it was launching an investigation into the deadly implosion of the deep-sea vessel.
Superintendent Osmond said: “Today the RCMP opened an investigation into the circumstances leading to the deaths of the five people aboard the submersible Titan.”
The relief vessel that launched the doomed Titan submersible has returned to Canadian harbor after the submarine’s disastrous implosion that killed all five men on board
Investigators from Canada’s Transportation Safety Board (TSB) board the Polar Prince, the main supply vessel for the Titan submersible, after it arrives in St. John’s Harbor
Crew members are seen aboard the Polar Prince, the main supply vessel for the submersible Titan, after the vessel returned to St. John’s Harbour
Osmond said: “Today the RCMP opened an investigation into the circumstances leading to the deaths of the five people on board the Titan submersible.”
“A team of investigators has been assembled with the sole purpose of answering the question of whether or not a full investigation is warranted.”
“Such an investigation will only proceed if an examination of the circumstances indicates that a criminal or federal or state law may have been violated.”
“It would have been inappropriate for the RCMP to take this action during recovery efforts.
“Following the announcement by the US Coast Guard earlier this week, we will now address the circumstances that led to these deaths.”
“Our investigators have been engaged and active in this manner since this morning.”
The Polar Prince had participated in a massive search operation for the Titan about 435 miles south of St. John’s that ended Thursday with confirmation that the submarine had imploded deep underwater, likely shortly after Sunday’s launch.
TSB investigators could be seen boarding the Polar Prince shortly after she docked in St. John.
TSB’s Cliff Harvey said at a news conference that interviews had taken place with those on board and they were not making any arrests.
TSB officials said they were tasked with finding out why the incident happened and reducing the likelihood of it ever happening again.
TSB said the voyage data recorder records all audio signals from the bridge and that these logs are being reviewed.
OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, pictured here, was on board the ship when it imploded last time during the expedition
Rib boats have also been spotted, appearing to be towing the Titan submersible’s launch platform away from the Polar Prince and further along the harbour.
Tourists also gathered at the dock with morbid curiosity, and some posed for selfies with the Arctic Prince in the background.
A man who photographed the scene said to his girlfriend, “Oh wow.” How neat. Tragic but neat.’
Polar Prince is a decommissioned Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker now owned by Miawpukek Horizon Maritime Service Ltd and chartered by extreme tourism company OceanGate as a support vessel for Titan’s deadly dive.
OceanGate founder and CEO Stockton Rush was killed aboard the American company’s submersible along with prominent British-Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood, British adventurer Hamish Harding and French Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet .
Two Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) vessels involved in the search operation also returned to the port of St. John’s Friday night, with one remaining at the scene of the disaster.
A crowd gathered at the dock to watch the return of CCGS Terry Fox and CCGS Ann Harvey while CCGS John Cabot stayed on site providing assistance and assistance to the salvage and recovery operations.
In a statement issued ahead of their ships’ arrival in port, the CCG said, “The Canadian Coast Guard extends our sincere condolences to the family and friends of the crew of Titan for their tragic loss.”
“Search and rescue operations are complete.”
Now authorities from the US and Canada have begun investigating the cause of Titan’s deadly implosion.
The US Coast Guard said on Friday that no formal investigation had yet been launched as maritime authorities are still busy searching the area where the ship was wrecked.
The wreckage was about 12,500 feet underwater, several hundred feet from the Titanic wreck she intended to explore.
The Titan submersible (above) catastrophically imploded on the Atlantic seabed during a dive to the Titanic wreck, killing the pilot and four fare-paying passengers
The launch platform used for the Titan submersible is being towed by the Polar Prince as Canadian officials launched their probe into the deep-sea vessel’s deadly implosion
Some tourists snapped morbid selfies on the dock as the Polar Prince returned to port
The Polar Prince, the main supply vessel for the Titan submersible, arrives at the port of St. John’s in Newfoundland, Canada, on Saturday
The polar prince can be seen on Saturday. When the ship launched eight days ago, there were 24 people on board, but five died aboard the doomed Titan submarine
Crew members wearing orange hard hats could be seen on the deck of the ship, which returned to port with five fewer souls on board than the 24 with which it sailed eight days earlier
Police officers speak to crew members aboard the Polar Prince as the ship arrives in port
Canadian officials board supply ship as investigation into Titan disaster begins
Police officers are seen aboard the Polar Prince after returning to St. John’s Harbour
The Polar Prince launched the Titan submarine on Sunday and participated in the search for the OceanGate expeditionary submarine after it went missing
The US Coast Guard led the first search and rescue mission, which was a massive international effort likely costing millions of dollars.
Investigating the cause of the disaster and any attempt to salvage wreckage from the seabed is likely to be difficult and tedious.
“It’s an incredibly unforgiving environment down there on the seabed,” said Rear Admiral John Mauger of the Coast Guard’s First District.
Meanwhile, Canada’s TSB said a team of investigators had been dispatched to St. John’s to “collect information, conduct interviews and assess the incident.”
In a brief statement confirming the investigation, the safety agency said: “The TSB is launching an investigation into the fatal incident involving the Canadian-flagged vessel Polar Prince and the privately operated submersible Titan.”
“In accordance with the Canadian Transportation Accident Investigation and Safety Board Act and international agreements, the TSB will … conduct a safety investigation into the circumstances of this operation of the Canadian-flagged vessel Polar Prince.”
“A team of TSB investigators is traveling to St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador to gather information, conduct interviews and assess the incident.”
“In the coming days we will coordinate our activities with other authorities involved.”
The TSB said it would not investigate any civil or criminal liability for the disaster and was conducting investigations to “promote transportation safety.”
It wasn’t entirely clear who would have the authority to lead the disaster investigation, which is bound to be complex and involves multiple countries.
The Titan submersible was registered in the Bahamas, but OceanGate, the company that owned and operated the vessel, is based in the US.
OceanGate was headquartered in Everett, Wash., but appears to have suspended operations after it was confirmed that the Titan, with the company’s CEO on board, was lost.
Titan’s mothership, Polar Prince, now flies the Canadian flag and those killed were UK, Pakistani, French and US nationals.
Officials from Canada’s Transportation Safety Board (TSB) exit the Polar Prince after conducting interviews as a preliminary step in their investigation
One person exits the Polar Prince on Saturday appearing to be hiding their identity behind a hat, mask and sunglasses
The Polar Prince arrives in port just as Canada’s TSB said an investigative team was dispatched to St. John’s to “gather information, conduct interviews and assess the incident.”
The Polar Prince, the main supply vessel for the Titan submersible, arrives at the port of St. John’s in Newfoundland, Canada, on Saturday morning
Crew members are seen aboard the Polar Prince as it arrives in the port of St. John’s in Newfoundland, Canada on Saturday morning
As the search and rescue operation concludes, US and Canadian authorities have begun investigating the cause of Titan’s deadly implosion
Polar Prince is a decommissioned Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker now owned by Miawpukek Horizon Maritime Service Ltd and chartered to OceanGate
The Polar Prince is flying the Canadian flag and those killed were citizens of England, Pakistan, France and the USA
The National Transportation Safety Board said Friday that the US Coast Guard had classified the loss of the Titan submersible as a “serious marine casualty” and the Coast Guard would lead the investigation.
An NTSB spokesman said the information was shared by Coast Guard officials with agency management and that the NTSB joined the investigation.
The US Coast Guard has not confirmed that it will lead the investigation.
Coast Guard Headquarters said the Coast Guard First District in Boston will discuss future operations and plans, but didn’t say when.
A spokeswoman for the First Circuit told on Saturday morning that the Coast Guard was unable to provide any new information regarding the investigation.
The Titan took off at 8am last Sunday and was reported overdue in the afternoon after the Polar Prince lost contact.
Rescuers brought ships, planes and other equipment to the area and began a desperate but ultimately futile search for survivors.
Any hope of finding the crew alive was dashed early Thursday when the Coast Guard announced debris had been found on the seabed.
The submarine wreckage was not far from the wreck of the Titanic, a British ocean liner that sank in 1912 after striking an iceberg on its maiden voyage, killing more than 1,500 people.
A significant part of any investigation will likely focus on the Titan’s unconventional design itself and its creator’s refusal to undergo independent safety testing.
The Titan was neither registered as a US ship nor certified by international security authorities. And it hasn’t been classified by a maritime industry group that sets standards in areas like hull construction.
Stockton Rush, CEO of OceanGate, who was piloting Titan when it imploded, previously complained that regulations can hinder progress.
“Holding an outside company abreast of every innovation before it is put into practice is anathema to rapid innovation,” Rush wrote in a blog post on his company’s website.