Titan sub victims spent final moments listening to music in darkness, report reveals
The people on board the doomed Titan submersible spent their final moments listening to music in darkness, a new report revealed, as the last known photo of the father and son killed has been published.
Details have emerged about the fatal 18 June expedition, with the New York Times reporting how the divers prepared for the expected 12-hour trip.
Father and son Shahzada and Suleman Dawood, British billionaire Hamish Harding, French sub pilot Paul-Henri Nargeolet and Stockton Rush, the chief executive of the company OceanGate that owned the submersible, were killed when the vessel suffered a catastrophic implosion.
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Titan debris brought to shore
The last known picture of Shahzada and 19-year-old Suleman has been published. They are pictured on the mothership the Polar Prince wearing an orange waterproof jacket and a life vest.
Christine Dawood, Shahzada’s wife and Suleman’s mother, said they were also given OceanGate flight suits, waterproof trousers, steel-toed boots and helmets.
The Dawoods almost did not make the expedition after their initial flight from Toronto to St John’s in Newfoundland was cancelled and their rebooked flight was delayed.
The prominent Pakistani family had met Mr Rush and his wife in February in a cafe near Waterloo station, where they discussed the design and safety of the submersible.
In the days before their deaths, the divers attended safety meetings and presentations on board the submersible’s mothership, the Polar Prince, a former Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker that was built in 1959.
The OceanGate Expeditions submersible vessel Titan
The five people killed were told to eat a “low-residue diet” the day before the dive, and to not drink coffee that morning.
They were also asked to load their favourite songs on their phone to play on a Bluetooth speaker, but Mr Rush insisted no country music be included.
Divers were told to wear thick socks and a hat, as it would get colder the deeper the submersible went.
The debris was recovered from the ocean floor near the wreck of the Titanic Pic: The Canadian Press /AP
The five were also warned to avoid getting their feet wet from condensation that would form on the floor.
During the dive, the victims would have only seen bioluminescent sea creatures through the 21-inch porthole on the way down to the Titanic wreckage, as the floodlights were turned off until the submersible reached the seabed to save battery.
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Mr Rush, the pilot, usually sat at the back of the submersible away from the porthole. The others sat with their backs to the curved walls.
The submersible typically descended at about 25 metres per minute, according to the New York Times, so those on board would feel no sense of motion.
The US newspaper also reported that more Titan missions were aborted than accomplished.
Read more:
What happened to the vessel?
The stories of the ‘true explorers’ on board
The first four OceanGate dives this year did not reach the Titanic.
There were extensive safety concerns, with several submersible experts flagging issues.
During a Titan mission in 2021, divers had to move their weight from side to side to dislodge weights attached to the submersible which would result in the vessel coming back to the surface when a dive was aborted.
Several investigations into the implosion are under way after pieces of debris were found about 487 metres from the Titanic five days after the vessel lost contact.
World
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Conor McGregor has spoken out after losing a civil rape case as a feminist march was held in Dublin.
The MMA fighter was accused of raping Nikita Hand, who was awarded €248,603 (£206,000) in damages on Friday after a jury at Dublin’s High Court found McGregor assaulted her in a Dublin hotel in 2018.
Nikita Hand.
Pic: PA
Posting on social media, the 36-year-old said: “I know I made mistakes”.
It comes as hundreds of people in Dublin staged a demonstration in “utter solidarity” with Ms Hand.
Posting on X, McGregor said: “People want to hear from me, I needed time. I know I made mistakes. Six years ago, I should have never responded to her outreaches. I should have shut the party down. I should never have stepped out on the woman I love the most in the world. That’s all on me.
“As much as I regret it, everything that happened that night was consensual and all the witnesses present swore to that under oath. I have instructed my legal team to appeal the decision.
“I can’t go back and I will move forward. I am beyond grateful to my family, friends and supporters all over the world who have stayed by my side.
“That’s it. No more. Getting back to the gym- the fight game awaits!”
Conor McGregor (centre) and partner Dee Devlin leave the High Court in Dublin after he lost a civil case.
Pic: PA
Speaking outside court after the decision, an emotional Ms Hand said the two-week-long civil case had been a “nightmare” but that “justice has been served”.
“It’s something that I’ll never forget for the rest of my life,” she added.
In Dublin on Monday night, a march in support of Ms Hand was organised by the socialist feminist movement group Rosa to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
The demonstration in Dublin.
Pic: PA
Ruth Coppinger (left) and Natasha O’Brien at the solidarity march.
Pic: PA
Participants chanted “stand with Nikita” and “no more fear, no more shaming, we reject your victim blaming” as they carried signs and banners through the capital’s streets.
Ruth Coppinger, a councillor and general election candidate, and Natasha O’Brien, who became a public figure after a soldier received a suspended sentence for assaulting her, both spoke at the event.
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Ms Coppinger said Ms Hand was “an incredibly brave woman” and that she was watching the event via a live stream.
Ms O’Brien was cheered as she said she’d been “in awe” of Ms Hand’s courage and that Ireland had let out a collective “sigh of relief” after the jury found in Ms Hand’s favour.
McGregor was accused of having “brutally raped and battered” Ms Hand.
She was taken in an ambulance to the Rotunda Hospital the following day where the paramedic who assessed her told the court she had not seen “someone so bruised” in a long time.
Following eight days of evidence, and three days of closing speeches and the judge’s instructions to the jury, the jury of eight women and four men spent six hours and ten minutes deliberating before returning their verdict.
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