US Coast Guard Starts Investigation Into Titan Implosion

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The US Coast Guard has started an investigation into the tragic accident involving the Titan submersible, US Coast Guard Rear Adm. John Mauger said.

Mauger told reporters on Sunday that the Coast Guard had officially formed a commission to investigate the disaster and the deaths of five people on board.

Mauger said that Capt. Jason Neubauer was going to be the chief investigator.

"My primary goal is to prevent a similar occurrence by making the necessary recommendations to enhance the safety of the maritime domain worldwide," Neubauer told reporters, adding that investigators will work on gathering evidence into the cause of the implosion.

On Friday, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada said authorities had launched an investigation into the destruction of the Titan submersible in Atlantic Ocean waters, and the US Coast Guard later added that it would join and lead the probe.

On June 18, the OceanGate submersible, Titan, went missing during an expedition to the Titanic wreckage in an area about 900 miles east of Cape Cod in the North Atlantic, at a depth of approximately 13,000 feet.

On Thursday, the US Coast Guard confirmed that the debris found on the ocean floor near the Titanic wreck site was made up of pieces of the missing submersible. All five people aboard the Titan were presumed dead.