WEBVTT

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Good afternoon , everyone . Today we

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will be hosting a press briefing to

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officially announce the Coast Guard's

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convening of a Marine Board of

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investigation into the loss of the

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titan Submersible and the five people

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on board . Speaking today , we will be

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commander of the first Coast Guard

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District . Rear Admiral John , who will

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give a brief statement on the search

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and rescue aspect of the response since

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the discovery of the titan sub wreckage

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marked the conclusion of the search and

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rescue aspect of this incident

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following Admiral Magers remarks ,

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Captain Jason Newbauer , chief

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investigator will also give a statement .

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The intention of today's press

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conference is to shed light on the

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purpose scope and priorities of the

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Coast Guard's Marine Board of

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Investigation . Questions should focus

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on the investigation . Any questions

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outside this scope should be addressed

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with our district , one staff following

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today's press conference . Please limit

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your questions to one per outlet and we

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will be ending at 10 minutes . I will

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now introduce Rear Admiral John .

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Good afternoon . Over the past week ,

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the world has followed the story of the

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sub Titan and the five people who

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perished in the terrible tragedy . The

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purpose of today's press conference is

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to bring closure to the search and

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rescue phase of the response and to

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inform the public of the Coast Guard's

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next steps . But first and foremost , I

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want to again express my deepest

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sympathies to the families on

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Saturday . I had the opportunity to

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travel to ST John's to speak with

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family members directly . For those

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that I did not have the opportunity to

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meet with . I extend my deepest

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condolences on behalf of the United

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States Coast Guard and the members of

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the Unified Command as I have

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continued to stress throughout this

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case , has been extremely complex

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involving a coordinated international

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interagency and private sector response

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in an unforgiving and difficult to

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access region of the ocean . In total ,

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the Unified Command directed 11 surface

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assets , five sub surface assets ,

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four air assets and completed

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39 search and rescue sorties totalling

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almost 13,000 square miles

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and while the outcome was not what any

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of us had hoped for , I am

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very proud of the team of

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responders who put forth their best

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effort to locate the Submersible .

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While in Canada , I met with and

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personally thanked members of the

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Canadian Coast Guard and the Canadian

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Armed Forces who demonstrated the

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utmost professionalism and expertise .

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Throughout the response , I extended my

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gratitude to all the professional

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responders who worked diligently to

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evaluate all leads , mobilize

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resources and maintain hope

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their devotion to duty in the face of

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many complex challenges ensured that we

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remained always ready to conduct search

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and rescue operations if needed . The

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discovery of the titan Submersible

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wreckage marked the conclusion of the

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search and rescue aspect of this

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incident . The Coast Guard has

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officially convened a Marine Board of

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investigation into the loss of the

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Submersible and the five people on

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board . That investigation will be led

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by chief investigator , Captain Jason

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Newbauer . So at this time , I will

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turn over the mic to him , Captain

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Newbauer .

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Thank you . Good afternoon . Before I

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discuss the Coast Guard's investigation ,

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I want to express my deepest

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condolences to the loved ones of the

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five individuals who perished in this

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tragic incident . My team and

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myself have been investigating this

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since we heard the initial

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reports of lost communications and my

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entire team wanted to express their

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condolences . Also as a senior

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investigator , I have witnessed the

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personal impacts associated with these

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types of events . And my primary goal

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is to prevent a similar occurrence by

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making the necessary recommendations to

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enhance the safety of the maritime

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domain worldwide . Upon receiving

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notification that the Submersible titan

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had suffered a catastrophic failure

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with the loss of the five lives on

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board . The coast guard declared a

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major marine casualty and convened a

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Marine Board of investigation commonly

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referred to as an MBI on June 23 . I

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am serving as the chair for that

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investigation . An MBI is the highest

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level of investigation the Coast Guard

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conducts and enables the us to fully

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leverage investigative resources ,

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Coast Guard wide and capitalize on an

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extensive network of cooperative

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relationships with international

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Maritime Administrations and

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organizations . The NB is currently

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in its initial evidence collection

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phase including debri salvage

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operations at the incident site and

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evidence collection in coordination

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with Canadian authorities in the port

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of ST John's Newfoundland . After the

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on scene , evidence collection efforts

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conclude the MBI will typically hold a

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formal hearing to gather additional

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witness testimony and evidence in a

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setting that is available to the public .

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During the course of the MBI . The

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board will first and primarily work to

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determine the cause of this marine

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casualty and the five associated deaths .

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The NBI however is also responsible for

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accountability aspects of the incident

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and it can make recommendations to the

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proper authorities to pursue civil or

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criminal sanctions as necessary .

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However , any subsequent enforcement

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activities would be pursued under a

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separate investigation . The

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M is also working in close coordination

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with other national domestic and

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international investigative authorities

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including the United States National

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Transportation Safety Board , Canadian

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Transportation Safety Board , French

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Marine Casualties Investigation Board

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and the United Kingdom Marine Accident

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Investigation Branch . Upon completion

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of this investigation , the MBI will

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issue a report to the commandant of the

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Coast Guard Admiral Linda Fagan with

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the evidence collected , the facts ,

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established its conclusions and

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recommendations . The final report will

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also be shared with the domestic and

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international maritime authorities I

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mentioned and the International

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Maritime Organization , the Imo to help

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improve the safety framework for

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Submersible operations worldwide . I

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will not take any questions about the

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evidence gathering right now . Have you

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already , how do you , how does that

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happen ? The MBI leverages

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Coast Guard resources nationwide and

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also our international partners to

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collectively collect

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evidence . And right now , we do have

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ongoing operations . I mentioned two

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areas , the on site of the accident

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record site , we have an ongoing

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salvage operation and we are also

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currently conducting interviews in the

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port of ST John's . I

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just at this time , that is the

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priority of the investigation is to

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recover items from the sea floor .

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Uh Sir , we have already mapped the the

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accident site in the field and so the

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other factors would be part of the

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investigation . I don't want to get too

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deep into the details at this time ,

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sir . Ok . What other organizations are

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national ? Yes , sir . I

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listed several international maritime

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authorities in my opening statement

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including the Canada's Transportation

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Safety Board , the United Kingdom's

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Marine Accident Investigation branch .

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It's really parties under international

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protocols . If they have a

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substantially interested interest in

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the investigation , they can request to

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be part of the Coast Guard's Marine

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Board and we've accepted that often

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citizenship of the the fatalities

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on board would automatically make that

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international country or maritime

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administration , a party to a

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substantially interested state and a

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party to

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recover these crimes .

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We are communicating with family

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members and I'm not getting into the

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details of the recovery operations .

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But we are taking all precautions on

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site if we are to encounter any human

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remains .

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Sorry . So

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as a matter of us , law

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and Coast Guard policy , the Coast

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guard doesn't charge for search and

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rescue , nor do we associate a cost

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with human life . We always answer the

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call and so the ocean remains an

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unforgiving environment . And every

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weekend , there are risks that are

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taken as people go to the water with

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inadequate safety gear with inadequate

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training or boating while intoxicated .

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But we still answer the call . We

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conduct disciplined operations with

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warranted risk to put our resources and

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our lives at risk to save others .

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That's who we are . Do you think that

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this investigation

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the risk ? So they , they knew that

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they were regulations on

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what ? Certainly

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that is one of the goals of the MBI .

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It's an opportunity to learn from the

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incident and then work with our

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international partners worldwide to do

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exactly what you mentioned , improve

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regulations or international safety

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standards so that they have improved

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oversight of these operations and to

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prevent a similar occurrence . I can't

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give an estimate at this time due to

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the several of the international

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investigations going jointly in some of

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the evidence sharing really cannot give

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a timeline on the investigation itself .

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We had time for two more questions ,

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sir . The the Marine Board

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investigation will not be releasing

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evidence as it's collected out of

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concern for other investigative parties

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and the families involved so that will

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not be occurring at this time , sir .

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Here . Uh Have you been able to

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interview folks on that team as well ?

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Interviews are scheduled with crew

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members from the Polar Prince ? Very

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thing to the surface yet . How we will

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do that and then what the analysis of

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the salvage operations are ongoing .

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I'm not going to give the details of

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what the recovery has been to date ,

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but the resources are on site and

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capable of recovering the debris .

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Yeah . Ok . Thank you

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again . Thank you all for being here

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today for any further media inquiries

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regarding the investigation into the

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titan Submersible , my staff and I will

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be available to provide that contact

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information .