--- title: "Titanic Sub Investigators Find Camera With Intact SD Card Amid Crumpled Wreckage" description: "The SD card survived the implosion of the OceanGate submersible which went missing while diving to the Titanic shipwreck." date: "2025-10-22" modified: "2025-10-22" authors: - name: "Frank Landymore" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/flandymore" url: "https://futurism.com/advanced-transport/titanic-sub-sd-card" categories: - "Advanced Transport" --- # Titanic Sub Investigators Find Camera With Intact SD Card Amid Crumpled Wreckage ![The SD card survived the implosion of the OceanGate submersible which went missing while diving to the Titanic shipwreck.]() *Illustration by Tag Hartman-Simkins / Futurism. Source: Getty Images* Amid the mangled wreckage of the OceanGate Titan submersible that horrifically imploded two years ago, investigators found a single SD card that miraculously survived intact — and still works. The discovery was [flagged]() last week by science communicator Scott Manley, who has extensively covered the underwater tragedy. According to documents from the National Transportation Safety Board investigation shared by Manley — available in full [here]() — a recovery team found a camera with a titanium casing containing the SD card. The camera device model was listed as a SubC Rayfine Mk2 Benthic Camera, which is rated up to a depth of 6,000 meters, or nearly 20,000 feet. While the camera's lens was shattered, and some of the electronic hardware inside was rattled around and disconnected, the SD card survived completely "undamaged," the documents said. The card appears to be a SanDisk Extreme Pro 512GB, [according to *Tom's Hardware*](), which costs $62.99. Investigators wrote that the optical window covering the camera lens, made of synthetic sapphire crystal, had held strong, protecting the interior when the lens gave way. Once the card was recovered, an exact binary image of it was made so investigators could examine its contents. They discovered, however, that the data was encrypted, and would require encryption keys stored in the camera's CPU, which was broken. Authorities contacted the manufacturers of the different hardware parts used in the camera, and with their help, were able to use surrogate parts to extract the data. They eventually recovered 12 still images and nine videos from the SD card, all at 4K resolution or higher. But it turned out that there wasn't any footage taken during the accident, since it appeared that the camera had been configured to offload its data onto an external storage device on the submersible's onboard computer, which was destroyed. The insights come as the National Transportation Safety board [released]() its final report on the catastrophic hull failure that led to the Titan submersible imploding while diving to the Titanic shipwreck some 12,500 feet underwater in June 2023, killing all five people onboard. A days-long search ensued before it was eventually determined that no one could have survived the grisly disaster. The [NTSB report]() blamed the Titan's poorly constructed carbon fiber and titanium hull which contained "multiple anomalies" and "failed to meet necessary strength and durability requirements." The findings also singled out OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, who was killed in the expedition, for failing to properly test the vehicle. Rush had [called]() safety precautions "pure waste," used [legal threats to silence his critics](), and allegedly said that if the Coast Guard tried to interfere with his operation, he would "buy a congressman" to make the problem "go away," a [former employee testified](). **More on OceanGate:** [*Government Releases Audio of Implosion of Titanic Sub*]() ## Author At Futurism, my work has often centered on bringing a sense of clarity and insight to complex topics ranging from the regulation of emerging technologies to the esoteric ideologies of Silicon Valley executives, while striving not to lose the poetic sense of awe inspired by often-obscure fields like astrophysics and quantum computing. I broke the story of CNET using AI to produce articles that turned out to be riddled with factual errors and plagiarism — a dam-breaking inflection point, as I've reported, that's inspired copycats and endless discourse while beguiling stakeholders ranging from tech giants to purveyors of spam around the web. My work at Futurism has been cited by publications including CBS News, the Los Angeles Times, Vice, Gizmodo, Engadget, the Verge, and Vanity Fair. I grew up in locales ranging from India to China, and now live in the exotic suburbs of Virginia. In my free time, I'm an avid reader of weird sci-fi literature, an aficionado of East Asian cinema, and, regrettably, a relapsed gamer. Allegedly, I’m working on a debut novel, currently untitled. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()