OceanGate's Titan submersible imploded on its way to the Titanic wreck one year ago. The Coast Guard initially had 12 months to complete its investigation, but says it needs more time.
OceanGate did not offer additional details about pausing its operations. Its CEO, Stockton Rush, was among the five people killed when the company's Titan submersible imploded in June.
The Titanic director has made 33 dives to the shipwreck and visited ocean depths in a submersible he built himself. He compares OceanGate to the Titanic in that both ignored safety warnings.
The Navy, which was part of the unified command hunting for the Titan submersible, said it had acoustic data "consistent with an implosion" on Sunday at the start of a five-day search.
Stockton Rush, OceanGate's CEO and the pilot on its missing sub, is married to the great-great-granddaughter of Ida and Isidor Straus. Their story inspired an iconic scene in James Cameron's movie.
The search for the Titan in the North Atlantic continues. When adventure travel goes wrong, who pays the price, and who's forced to take big risks mounting a rescue?
Experts from within and outside OceanGate worried about the safety and development of the Titan as far back as 2018, years before its inaugural dive. One tells NPR its disappearance isn't a surprise.
OceanGate's expeditions to the Titanic were meant to herald a new era for deep-sea tourism, but the company's missing submersible has instead underscored the danger these journeys can bring.
