Last moments: Titan riders listened to music, watched sea life

The tail of the Titan was found near the Titanic wreck

LONDON (Web Desk) – All the passengers onboard OceanGate Expedition-owned submersible spent their last moments on submersible listening to music and watching deep sea creatures, it has been learnt.

Among the five people onboard the vessel, there was 19-year-old Suleman Dawood with his father Shahzada Dawood, a renowned Pakistani businessman and philanthropist. Three others included the pilot and CEO of the OceanGate Stockton Rush, French explorer Paul-Henry Nargeolet and British billionaire adventurer Hamish Harding.

The OceanGate Expedition-owned submersible went missing on June 18, after it was launched from its mothership and after more than four days of a rigorous rescue mission led by the US, Canada and France, the authorities announced the death of all five passengers.

Their vessel suffered a "catastrophic explosion" and all were pronounced dead on June 22. The tail of the Titan was found near the Titanic wreck. Christine Dawood, Shahzada and mother of Suleman told about the preparations carried out by CEO Stockton Rush.

"It was like a well-oiled operation — you could see they had done this before many times," Christine noted about the briefing given to the passengers, during an interview with the New York Times.

As per the recommendations, the passengers were to consume a “low-residue diet” the day before their journey estimated to last four hours. They were also advised to wear thick socks and a beanie due to cold temperatures as it neared the Titanic wreck thousands of feet beneath the ocean.

The warning was also issued the journey would be dark but they would likely see the view of bioluminescent creatures. Rush also reported to have recommended people to load favourite songs onto their phones to share with others on a Bluetooth speaker, however, he said there should be no country music.

Authorities retrieved the debris of the imploded submersible last Wednesday as the US Coast Guard continues recovery operations following the sub’s catastrophic implosion. Pelagic Research Services, the company that operated the remotely operated vehicles (ROV) that made the previous debris findings, said that its team had successfully completed off-shore operations and was now in the process of demobilisation after 10 days of work.

A video from several news outlets showed several pieces of the submersible being lifted from the ship, including the nose cone with its distinctive circular window. The pieces were unloaded from the American ships Sycamore and Horizon Arctic at a port in St John's, Newfoundland.