The men who sadly lost their lives following
an unsuccessful submersible expedition to the Titanic will be honored with ceremonies at 2 museums where the original 1912 tragedy is memorialized.
On Friday, Titanic Museum in Branson already started paying tribute to the victims. Typically at that museum, staff gathers together in the ship’s memorial room, where names of all the souls lost on the Titanic covers the walls. However, the five people who died from the OceanGate submersible expedition were honored with a brief tribute and a white rose wreath.
The Titanic Museum is in its 17th year, and staff say they have not seen an increase in visitors since the OceanGate submersible went missing.
Jamie Terrell, a first-class mate of the Titanic Museum explained, “Every day, we pay tribute to the 2,208 passengers and crew that were on board the Titanic, and their legacy will be their memory. And we get to be the ambassadors for that, and we take great honor in that. And today we are adding five more names to that.”
As TMZ notes, the submersible victims will also be honored at other The Titanic Museum Attraction locations including one in Pigeon Forge, TN.
More On The Tragedy
As we previously reported, Paul-Henri … alongside Hamish Harding, Shahzada Dawood, his son Suleman, and OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush were all in Titan when it imploded. Parts of the sub were found 1,600 yards away from Titanic.
The 21-foot deep-sea vessel, operated by OceanGate Expeditions, lost contact about an hour and 45 minutes after submerging on Sunday morning. Five men, including one teenager, were sadly declared dead days after they left for a voyage in a 22-foot submersible to see the wreckage of the Titanic in the North Atlantic Ocean. The passengers were well known for their devotion to extreme exploration, desire to collect artifacts from the Titanic or their exorbitant wealth. Each paid $250,000 to ride on the submersible.
OceanGate said in a statement on their passings, “These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world’s oceans. Our hearts are with these five souls and every member of their families during this tragic time,”
Rear Admiral John Mauger of the U.S. Coast Guard previously said during a news conference that he did not know whether the Coast Guard would be able to recover the bodies. “This is an incredibly unforgiving environment down there on the seafloor,” he said.
Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas also released the following statement regarding the Titan submersible:
“I offer my deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of the Titan’s passengers and crew during this incredibly difficult time. I commend the work and leadership of the United States Coast Guard on this extremely complex mission, and we are grateful to our interagency and international partners for their coordination in our search and rescue efforts.”