By JENNIFER McDERMOTT and STEVE LeBLANC Associated Press
The U.S. Coast Guard said Sunday it is leading an investigation into the loss of the Titan submersible that was carrying five people to the Titanic, to determine what caused it to implode.
Capt. Jason Neubauer, chief investigator, said the salvage operations are ongoing, and they have mapped the accident site. He did not give a timeline for the investigation. Neubauer said the convening of a Marine Board of Investigation is the highest level of investigation conducted by the U.S. Coast Guard.
Investigators are working closely with other national and international investigative authorities, including the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, Transportation Safety Board of Canada, the French marine casualties investigation board and the United Kingdom Marine Accident Investigation Branch, Neubauer added. Evidence is being collected in the port of St. John's, Newfoundland, in coordination with Canadian authorities.
The Coast Guard board can make recommendations to prosecutors to pursue civil or criminal sanctions as necessary.
The U.S. Navy said Sunday that it won't be using a large piece of salvage equipment that it had deployed to the effort to retrieve the Titan submersible.
The Flyaway Deep Ocean Salvage System had the capability of lifting an intact Titan back to the surface. The U.S. Coast Guard announced on Thursday that debris from the submersible had been found roughly 1,600 feet (488 meters) from the Titanic in North Atlantic waters.
The Titan submersible imploded on its way to tour the Titanic wreckage, killing all five on board. Debris was located about 12,500 feet (3,810 meters) underwater.
The Navy would only use the ocean salvage system if there were pieces large enough to require the use of the specialized equipment.
"Efforts are focused on helping map the debris field in preparation for recovery efforts and to support investigative actions. Efforts to mobilize equipment such as the Flyaway Deep Ocean Salvage System have been discontinued," a Navy official told The Associated Press.
The Navy describes the Flyaway Deep Ocean Salvage System as a "portable, ship lift system designed to provide reliable deep ocean lifting capacity of up to 60,000 pounds for the recovery of large, bulky, and heavy sunken objects such as aircraft or small vessels."
The Titan weighed 20,000 pounds (9,071 kilograms).
The Navy is continuing to support the U.S. Coast Guard as operations continue.
