This post is a day-by-day summary of the in-depth research I did into OceanGate's 2021 timeline.
See also:
- Source list: All sources used to make the 2021 Titan submersible timeline
- The long version of this post
2021 was very well documented; 2022 and 2023 have been harder to find complete information on. This is post is a summary of all the information I have about 2021.
Summary
Based on my research, OceanGate and its Titan submersible reached the Titanic ship 3 times in 2021.
The total of 2021 missions and dives are:
- 5 "Missions," 8 or 9-day trips in which the passengers and crew would sail from Newfoundland to the Titanic coordinates in the ocean and attempt 1-3 dives in the Titan submersible to reach the Titanic.
- 2 submersible dives that reached the Titanic bow
- 1 submersible dive that reached the Titanic stern
- 4 submersible dives that were aborted before reaching the bottom of the ocean
- 2 submersible dives that reached the Titanic debris field but could not reach the Titanic ship
- 0 submersible dives to Titanic before it began trips with paying customers
2021 Complete Timeline
June 28, 2021
- Mission 1 begins.
- The OceanGate 2021 Titanic Survey Expedition begins.
- The support ship departs Newfoundland.
June 30, 2021
- The support ships arrives at the Titanic coordinates.
June 30 and July 1, 2021
- OceanGate has issues launching Titan.
July 2, 2021
- A
dive attempt occurs but is not successful. Fred Hagen is among the passengers. According to Kim Frank, who is married to an OceanGate employee, this is due to bad weather. According to Fred Hagen, this is due to technical problems.
July 3, 2021
- A dive reaches 1,700 meters, about half-way to the Titanic wreck. It encounters electrical and other technical problems and has to resurface. Fred Hagen is again among the passengers.
July 4, 2021
- The support ships begins its return to Newfoundland.
July 6, 2021
- The support ship arrives back in Newfoundland.
- Mission 1 ends.
- Mission 2 begins.
July 9, 2021
- Stockton Rush, PH Nargeolet, and another OceanGate staff memeber make a "test dive" to see if the sub can actually reach the Titanic. The dive is delayed because engineers are still repairing the sub.
- Eventually the sub launches and descends to the bottom. It reaches the ocean floor and is able to explore the Titanic debris field. The sub loses sonar and cannot find the Titanic.
- The sub attempts to ascend so that it can resurface before sunset, but there are issues with the weights. The sub is stuck on the ocean floor for about 2 hours.
- Rush is finally able to use the propellers to begin floating toward the surface, but this is too slow, so he enacts an emergency procedure. He drops the "ballast tank system" to ascend faster.
- They finally reach the surface but are stuck
bobbing on the surface for another eight hours. First, there are problems getting the sub onto the platform. Then, there are problems
getting the platform onto the ship.
July 10, 2021
- Rush, Nargeolet, and the co-pilot are finally let out of the sub at 4:00AM.
- Staff tells passenger Alan Estrada that there will be no more dives during Mission 2 because it's not safe for the passengers at the moment. Estrada says he is offered a free trip the following year.
July 13, 2021
- OceanGate puts out a press release saying they have reached the Titanic for the first time, rounding up their dive to the debris field as a visit to Titanic. The press release includes no photos of the Titanic, only of the debris field that the sub had landed in during the dive.
July 14, 2021
- Alan Estrada and three other passengers are given a "test" dive in a depth of about 100 meters, and Estrada films the dive for his Youtube channel. During the dive he is handed the game controller to steer the sub on the ocean floor. In the video the sub can be seen running over a rock as he steers the sub along the sea bottom.
July 14 or 15, 2021
- The ship returns to Newfoundland
- Mission 2 ends.
July 15 or 16, 2021
- Mission 3 begins.
- Passengers board the ship in Newfoundland.
July 18, 2021
- The ship reaches the Titanic coordinates.
July 18, 19, 20, or 21, 2021
- A dive is made but it does not reach Titanic. Stockton Rush is the pilot. Among the passengers are Ron Toigo and Jaden Pan. Footage of this dive is shown in the BBC documentary.
- The sub nearly reaches the ocean floor, but about two hours into the descent Stockton Rush decides they needed to turn back due to issues with one of the batteries. But the weights can't be released so they talk about just staying at the bottom of the ocean and waiting 16 to 24 hours for the emergency weights to be automatically released. Some passengers are OK with this; some are not.
- Finally Rush figures out a way to force a weight release and the sub ascends, resurfacing a few hours later.
July 21 or 22, 2021
- The ship returns to Newfoundland.
- Mission 3 ends.
July 22 or 23, 2021
- Mission 4 begins.
July 23, 2021
- The support ship departs Newfoundland.
July 24, 2021
- A dive with Stockton Rush, passenger Jason Wortman, and three others reaches the Titanic debris field, but does not see the ship.
- They explore the debris field but don't make it to the ship. Wortman says he is able to see the Titanic propellers as the sub ascends.
- There are issues with the sub weighing too much, so the descent goes faster than planned, and according to Wortman this is the reason they missing their landing destination and instead land near the back of the ship.
- They do not reach the Titanic ship. Wortman says he can see the Titanic's propellers as they ascend.
- When trying to resurface, there are issues with releasing the weights. Not all the weights are able to be released, so the sub takes longer than normal to reach the surface.
- A dive is made that did not reach Titanic. Stockton Rush is the pilot, and Bill Price is among the passengers. They
lose communications during descent. Then there is an issue releasing
the weights, so Stockton tells the passengers to rock back and forth to
spin the submersible and knock the weights off. After 30
minutes of this, it works. The weights drop off and they float to the surface.
July 26, July 27, July 28, or July 29, 2021
- Rush and the same group of passengers from the previous day's unsuccessful dive, including Bill Price, reach the bow of the Titanic. This is the first time Titan has ever reached Titanic.
July 29, 30, or 31
- Mission 5 begins.
August 2 or 3, 2021
- A dive reaches the stern of the Titanic. Stockton Rush is the pilot. David Waud and Aaron Newman are among the passengers.
August 3 or 4, 2021
- A dive reaches the bow of the Titanic. Arthur Liobl is among the passengers. Stockton Rush is the pilot.
- The dive is delayed five hours due to problems with the battery and balancing the weights. Shortly before the dive, the "bracket on the stabilizing tube" breaks off and is reattached with zip ties.
- The sub descends, with the lights turned off to conserve energy.
- The sub reaches the bow of the Titanic and the sub is able to spend time exploring the ship. The sub resurfaces without issue.
August 5, 2021
- The ship returns to Newfoundland.
- Mission 5 ends.
- The 2021 OceanGate Titanic Survey Expedition ends.
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