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A mission to explore the remains of the Titanic went horribly awry on June 18, riveting the world as search crews raced against time to find a submersible that vanished during an attempted dive to the ocean floor, where paying passengers and Stockton Rush III, founder of the submersible company OceanGate, could view the Titanic wreckage.
On Thursday the U.S. Coast Guard announced pieces of the submersible were found scattered across a debris field a third of a mile from the Titanic. OceanGate issued a statement saying, “We grieve the loss of life” of those aboard.
Also aboard the vessel were French explorer Paul-Henry Nargeolet, British explorer and jet dealer Hamish Harding and Shahzada Dawood of a prominent Pakistani family and his son Suleman.
Records show the tragedy was preceded by a long path toward developing a craft that would reach the ocean depths where the Titanic rests. They also show a history of safety concerns.
Retrace the development of OceanGate and its submersibles, and the search for the missing Titan, with this timeline.
2009: OceanGate is founded
A provider of manned deep-sea submersibles, OceanGate starts operations on the West Coast, the company has stated in news releases. Its founder is Stockton Rush III, who graduated from Princeton University with a BSE in aerospace, aeronautical and astronautical engineering in 1984 and obtained an MBA at the University of California Berkeley’s Haas School of Business in 1989, according to his biography on OceanGate’s website.
February 2012: OceanGate expands to Florida and the Caribbean
It’s registered as a corporation in Miami, with Guillermo Sohnlein as president and Rush as secretary. Documents state the company incorporated in Washington State in Dec. 2011.
May 2013: Collaboration announced with University of Washington
OceanGate says it will collaborate with the school’s Applied Physics Lab on Project Cyclops, a new 3000-meter 5-person submersible.
June 2013: Studies invasive fish
OceanGate teams with Nova Southeastern University to study invasive lionfish in Florida.
August 2013: Submersible feasibility study concludes
OceanGate announces University of Washington completes design feasibility study for hull design for Cyclops submersible.
June 2015: Report published on submersible
Rush and science and technology director Erika Montague, publish a report on Cyclops I with Peter Brodsky, an engineer at the University of Washington.
November 2015: Some of the earliest paying customers sign up for trip
Marc and Sharon Hagle sign a contract and pay $10,000 deposits to OceanGate to participate in an expedition to the Titanic.
June 2016: OceanGate submersible dives to wreck
One of the company’s submersibles dives over the wreck of the Andrea Doria off Nantucket.
March 2017: OceanGate announces Titanic dive
Company announces it will conduct the first manned submersible dives to Titanic since 2005, and that private citizens may join the expedition as mission specialists for $105,129 each.
Mid-2017: Refund or not?
The Hagles begin pondering whether to ask OceanGate for a refund of their deposit. Rush visits their home to reassure them.
August 2017: One step completed
OceanGate completes assembly of core pressure vessel, bonding two titanium rings to the ends of a 56-inch wide, 100-inch-long carbon-fiber cylinder.
January 2018: Launch and recovery testing
OceanGate tweets it successfully tested the launch and recovery platform of Cyclops 2.
February 2018: Cyclops 2 becomes Titan
Engineering team hands over Cyclops 2 to operations team, renames submersible vessel.
The Hagles wire OceanGate an additional $190,258 to pay for their planned Titan expedition.
March 2018: Safety concerns raised
A trade group, the Marine Technology Society, sends a letter to OceanGate — Reported by the New York Times in June 2023 — to express unanimous concern regarding development of the Titan submersible and its planned Titanic Expedition.
April 2018: Expedition canceled
Hagles say OceanGate cancels June 2-9, 2018 expedition and reschedules it to July 2019.
July 2018: Lawsuit emerges
August 2018: Safety concerns
Lochridges file a counterclaim in the lawsuit, alleging a series of safety concerns about the Titan submersible.
November 2018: Case dismissed
Parties settle in the OceanGate v. Lochridge case.
December 2018: Another milestone
CBS This Morning publishes a story saying Rush reached a depth of 13,000 feet during a dive in the Titan in the Bahamas, a key milestone in his plan to dive to the Titanic in 2019.
April 2019: A new patent
U.S. Patent Office assigns OceanGate a patent for systems to recover objects in aquatic environments.
June 2019: Expedition delay
OceanGate delays 2019 Titanic expedition, says it will take place in June 2020.
October 2019: Expedition canceled
Hagles receive email saying OceanGate cancels 2020 expedition.
January 2020: Raising money
OceanGate announces it has raised $18 million in equity financing, which it will use to expand its fleet of deep-sea submersibles to set the stage for 2021 dives to the Titanic.
February 2020: NASA to partner
NASA announces it will partner with OceanGate to develop and manufacture new carbon fiber pressure vessels.
November 2020: Tourist dives to start
Dozens of international news stories say OceanGate will start its first tourist dives to the Titanic in 2021.
March 2021: Astronaut joins expedition
OceanGate and NASA astronaut and physician Dr. Scott Parazynski announce he will join the Titanic expedition.
June 2021: Another patent
U.S. patent issued to OceanGate for systems and methods for launching and recovering objects in aquatic environments.
July 2021: Titanic success
OceanGate completes its first submersible dive to the Titanic, with a team that includes Rush, Scott Griffith and PH Nargeolet, a former French Naval commander and submersible pilot. The company says a series of yearly expeditions will help record the Titanic’s rate of decay and map the artifacts found on the site.
September 2021: A patent for monitoring integrity
OceanGate receives patent for systems for curing, testing, validating, rating and monitoring the integrity of composite structures.
November 2021: Tickets on sale for next expedition
OceanGate announces 2022 expedition to Titanic, price to ride rises to $250,000.
July 2022: Expedition encounters difficulties
CBS correspondent David Pogue goes on a Titanic expedition with OceanGate. On one dive, the submersible never finds the Titanic.
August 2022: Video shows submersible dive
OceanGate releases high definition video from its 2022 trip to the Titanic.
January 2023: A tally of dives so far
A Guardian story reports OceanGate Expeditions has taken about 60 customers and 15-20 researchers down to the Titanic in its submersible.
February 2023: Couple alleges fraudulent inducement
The Hagles sue Rush in Orange County, Florida circuit court, alleging fraudulent inducement and violation of Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.
May 26, 2023: Titanic expedition underway
Ocean Gate Expeditions tweets a photo of 24 people on deck, saying: “It’s been an exciting week with our Mission 2 crew!”
June 1, 2023: In the ‘middle of the North Atlantic’
OceanGate Expeditions tweets “Despite being in the middle of the North Atlantic, we have the internet connection we need to make our #Titanic dive operations a success – thank you @Starlink!”
June 15, 2023: Missions underway
OceanGate tweets: “Despite being in the middle of the North Atlantic, we have the internet connection we need to make our #Titanic dive operations a success – thank you @Starlink!”
June 17, 2023: Harding posts dive planned next day
Hamish Harding, chairman of Action Aviation, posts on Facebook that he has joined OceanGate Expeditions for the Titan mission and will be on an attempted dive on June 18.
June 18, 2023: Day ends in disaster
8:00 a.m. – Titan begins a descent from the Canadian research vessel the Polar Prince to the Titanic wreck, a trip expected to take two two hours to reach the ocean floor, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
9:45 a.m. – Communications cease between the Titan and its mothership, about 90 minutes into the trip.
3:00 p.m. – Titan fails to appear at the expected time for resurfacing
5:40 p.m. – Coast Guard receives a report on an overdue 21-foot submersible, with five people on board, diving to view the wreckage of the Titanic, approximately 900 nautical miles East of Cape Cod.
June 19, 2023: Search underway
Coast Guard says one of its C-130 Hercules aircraft and crew, as well as a Canadian P8 aircraft with underwater sonar capability, are searching for the submersible.
June 20, 2023: Hope flares
The Canadian aircraft reports hearing “underwater noises in the search area.”
Coast Guard establishes a command to help coordinate multiple vessels conducting search operations, says 10,000 square miles have been searched, including a Bahamian research vessel using a remotely operated vehicle and another C-130 crew. Coast Guard reports eight vessels enroute, including five Canadian ships, a French research vessel, the motor vessel Horizon Arctic and the commercial vessel Skandi Vinland.
June 21, 2023: Search continues
Coast Guard reports a third C-130 enroute, as well as a Magellan ROV. The Navy is sending experts and a Deep Ocean Salvage System designed to lift underwater objects.
June 22, 2023: Debris field located
11:48 a.m. Coast Guard announces a debris field has been discovered by an ROV from the Horizon Arctic, found near the Titanic.
OceanGate announces the crew of the Titan has been lost.
Missing sub:Mapping and visualizing debris found near titanic
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