How Aberdeenshire firm's tech found lost Titan sub as new Netflix film released
A new Netflix film has sparked renewed interest in the Titan sub imploding on a deep-sea dive to the wreckage of the Titanic two years ago.
The incident dominated headlines around the world in June 2023 as a search and rescue mission was launched.
The submersible was found after four days when debris was discovered 500 metres from the bow of the Titanic.
What was less widely known is the key role an Aberdeenshire business played in the debris ever being discovered.
This gave closure to the families of the five people who lost their lives on the vessel.
In a Press and Journal exclusive we revealed that equipment designed by Aberdeenshire subsea firm Tritech was used to discover the debris field.
The Odysseus 6K ROV (remotely-operated vehicle), owned by US-based Pelagic Research Services (PRS), was the first subsea asset to find wreckage of the Titan submersible.
The ROV was fitted with Super SeaKing DST sonar designed by Westhill-based Tritech.
Described by Tritech as 'the ultimate mechanical scanning sonar', it uses acoustic waves to sense the location of objects in the ocean.
At the time, Richard Marsh, who founded Tritech in 1990 and designed the Super SeaKing in 2005, said: 'Several experts thought it could take weeks or months to find the lost debris. So it's a feather in our cap to find it so quickly.
'As soon as they got an ROV down there it was found, thanks to the Tritech sonars.
'We were able to bring it to a conclusion very quickly which is something to be proud of, even if it's tragic.'
He added: 'Although it's a terrible thing for the families, at least they got closure quickly.
'At least we now know from analysing the debris site that their death was instantaneous.
'The thought of them being trapped five days and slowly dying is unbearable.'
The global interest in the Titan disaster meant the Press and Journal's story was read around the world. More than 320,000 people read the report in 178 countries.
The new Netflix documentary doesn't just recall the Titan sub disaster and the rescue mission.
Instead Titan: The OceanGate Submersible Disaster focuses on the years leading up to up to the incident and examines OceanGate inventor Stockton Rush's quest to be a billionaire innovator.
It highlights safety concerns of engineers who worked on the project and flaws in its design.
The film, which premiered on Wednesday, has the tag line: 'The deeper you look, the darker it gets'.
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