Coast Guard says experts will analyze ‘presumed human remains’ found in Titan submersible wreck

The U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday that “presumed human remains” have been recovered from the site of the Titan submersible that imploded earlier this month on its way to view the wreck of the Titanic.

“United States medical professionals will conduct a formal analysis of presumed human remains that have been carefully recovered within the wreckage at the site of the incident,” the Coast Guard said in a statement.

The Titan submersible went missing June 18 after it lost communication less than two hours into its dive to visit the Titanic, which lies more than 2 miles beneath the ocean’s surface. OceanGate, the company that owned the submersible, said last week that all five of the passengers the vessel was carrying were believed to be dead.

Coast Guard authorities said at the time that the debris field of the Titan found near the wreck of the Titanic was “consistent with catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber.” The Coast Guard announced Sunday that it would open a Marine Board of Investigation (MBI) into the submersible, noting that “debris and salvage operations” were already underway.

The Coast Guard said Wednesday that one of its cutter boats will be used to transport the evidence to a U.S. port where the MBI can further investigate the evidence and debris. The Coast Guard also noted that the board will continue to collect evidence and conduct witness interviews for a public hearing about the incident.

“I am grateful for the coordinated international and interagency support to recover and preserve this vital evidence at extreme offshore distances and depths,” MBI Chair Capt. Jason Neubauer said in a statement.

“The evidence will provide investigators from several international jurisdictions with critical insights into the cause of this tragedy. There is still a substantial amount of work to be done to understand the factors that led to the catastrophic loss of the Titan and help ensure a similar tragedy does not occur again.”