Titan submersible items that survived the implosion

The Hill

2 days ago

(NewsNation) — When the Titan submersible imploded, no survivors were found. Now, nearly two years later, the U.S. Coast Guard has revealed that they found items that survived the implosion.
Officials found a still-intact ink pen and other items while going through the remains of the Titan submersible.
In a TikTok video shared by Discovery, a member of the Coast Guard talked about the recovery process and revealed how the pen was found. The pen allegedly belonged to OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush. Investigators also found business cards, Titanic-themed stickers, remnants of clothing and human remains.
All of those items have been cataloged by the Coast Guard's Marine Board of Investigation.
The Coast Guard official in the video explained, 'Items that were inside of the Titan at the time now become encased inside of the endcap.'
After the submersible was drained of all its water, officials were able to go through its 'sludge-like' remains of carbon fiber, fiberglass and electronic parts. This is where they found part of Rush's suit still intact.
'We were all just kind of getting all-hands-in and separating what needed to be considered as human remains and what was just other wreckage pieces. As we were pulling it apart, that is how we realized it was Mr. Rush's clothing,' the Coast Guard official said.
The Titan pilot's clothing was allegedly found caked in sand. This is where they found the ink pen and other items.
'Inside of that sleeve … it was the ink pen, business cards and stickers for the Titanic, and there was nothing else but that,' the official said in the video.
In February 2025, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released an audio recording of what it believes was the moment the submersible imploded. According to NOAA, the sound came from a moored passive acoustic recorder around 900 miles from the implosion site.
The sound of static can be heard in the 23-second recording, followed by a boom, then more static.
The Titan had lost contact after an hour and 45 minutes, with officials spending four days searching for the submersible — that is, until evidence was found on the ocean floor of the implosion.
Along with Rush, four other people were killed on the Titan: Paul-Henri Nargeolet, Hamish Harding, Shahzada Dawood and his son, Suleman Dawood. OceanGate stopped operations after the implosion. An investigation by Wired showed that Rush had allegedly overstated the timeline for the project and lied about issues with the hull of the vessel.
The OceanGate Titan submersible was made of carbon fiber and titanium. It was supposed to take paying customers down to the wreckage of the Titanic, which is over 12,000 feet underneath the water's surface. The implosion killed all five people on board in June 2023.
Rush was one of the driving forces behind creating the OceanGate Titan and using it for tourism purposes. The debris is still being examined by the Marine Board of Investigation.