500 meters from Titanic

How high-tech submersible Titan became a watery grave

The carbon fiber submersible Titan: internal documents bear witness to a rushed construction, a toxic working atmosphere at the operator - and admonishing voices that were simply fired.

(Bild: OceanGate Expeditions/AP)

On June 18, 2023, the carbon submersible Titan set off with five passengers on a trip to the wreck of the legendary Titanic. It was to be its last journey. Shortly after the descent began, contact was lost, followed days later by the sad certainty: it had imploded. The chronology of a tragedy.

The Ocean Sciences Building at the University of Washington in Seattle is a bright, modern four-storey building with large windows reflecting the bay across the street. On the afternoon of July 7, 2016, it was sealed off for a risky experiment.

Red lights began flashing at the entrances as students and faculty walked out under cloudy skies. Eventually, only a few people remained in the building, preparing to unleash one of nature's most destructive forces: the crushing weight of about four kilometers of seawater.