Two weeks of public testimony ended Friday in a U.S. Coast Guard investigation into why the Titan submarine exploded during a deep-sea dive last year, killing all five crew members.
Its findings will be published in a report that may include what the panel believes was the cause of the incident. Whether there has been any misconduct, negligence, or violation of law. and safety recommendations that may prevent future disasters involving submarines.
The hearing in South Carolina included former employees and executives from Washington state-based Titan operator Ocean Gate, some speaking publicly for the first time, as well as discussions about the company’s culture and operations. Industry experts were also involved to outline the plan. And a run-up to a fatal dive.
In June 2023, the Titan lost contact with a support ship about two hours into its descent to see the wreckage of the Titanic in the North Atlantic off the coast of Canada, and began a frantic search. Public interest intensified amid reports of “sounds of impact” detected at the search site and concerns about how long passengers could endure in the cramped tubes, which lacked oxygen.
Ocean Gate CEO Stockton Rush, 61, was piloting the Titan. Paul-Henri Narjolet (77) is a deep-sea explorer who has visited the site of the Titanic sinking. British tycoon Hamish Harding, 58 years old. Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood (48) and her son Suleman (19).
As a result of the disaster, Ocean Gate almost immediately came under intense scrutiny. One of the reasons for this was not only that civilian passengers paid $250,000 each to join the expedition, but also that there were fatal accidents involving submersibles, a small number of which can dive to great depths. That’s true. Titanic is almost unprecedented.
Key facts emerging from the Coast Guard hearing include:
Images of debris helped confirm implosion
At the beginning of the hearing, the Coast Guard released photos and video of Titanic’s tail cone on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean near the ship’s bow.
Officials said an initial investigation concluded the Titan was likely involved in a “catastrophic implosion” because it could not withstand the pressure of deep water, but the discovery of the wreckage makes it clear no one survived. It is said that he did.
The Coast Guard also revealed one of the last messages Titan sent to support ships before losing contact: “We’re okay here.”
Former employee claims safety may have been compromised due to cost issues
David Lockridge, Ocean Gate’s former head of marine operations, testified that Rush cared more about profits and cost-cutting measures than building a viable submarine.
“The whole idea behind the company was to make money,” Lochridge said. Mr. Lochridge joined Ocean Gate in early 2016, but was fired from his role about two years later. “There was very little science.”
Lochridge becomes embroiled in a legal battle with Oceangate, claiming he was fired for complaining about quality control.
Another former engineering executive, Tony Nissen, said the Titan’s original hull (made of experimental carbon fiber, which has not been proven to withstand repeated deep-sea pressures) was damaged by lightning during a maritime disaster. He said he then raised his concerns with Rush. Mr. Nissen said he was fired after refusing to participate in another test mission the following year and even told Mr. Rush that he was “reluctant” about Titan.
Meanwhile, former Ocean Gate managing director Amber Bay, who joined the company in early 2019, testified that the business was sometimes unable to meet payroll, and Rush had to pour in personal funds.
“He increased his investment by making deposits and we were able to pay our salaries,” she said, adding that the financial situation was so tight that her employees also asked for their salaries to be deferred. He added that it was done.
OSHA accused of failing to consider safety concerns in a timely manner
In January 2018, after his firing at Ocean Gate, Lochridge said he submitted a quality inspection report on Titan’s construction to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the federal agency that oversees workplace safety.
Following Mr. Lochridge’s termination, Ocean Gate filed suit for breach of contract, alleging that Mr. Lochridge violated the terms of his contract by discussing confidential information with other employees and OSHA representatives.
But instead of OSHA pushing its case, he said, representatives are just dragging their feet, allowing Ocean Gate to design and build Titan unchecked.
“I believe this tragedy could have been prevented if OSHA had been willing to investigate the seriousness of the concerns that I have repeatedly raised,” Lochridge said.
In a response to NBC News, an OSHA spokesperson said OSHA forwarded his safety complaint to the Coast Guard, which has the authority to investigate such complaints. The agency said it could only investigate his claims of employment retaliation and that “the investigation was conducted in accordance with the normal process and schedule for retaliation cases.”
After Loch Ridge and Ocean Gate agreed to settle their lawsuits in late 2018, OSHA closed its investigation “in accordance with the terms of the parties’ agreement,” a spokesperson said.
Titan has not been inspected by any industry association.
Roy Thomas, an engineer with the U.S. Bureau of Shipping, testified that Oceangate never contacted the organization that advises and verifies whether ships comply with industry standards.
Thomas said the choice of carbon fiber, the main material for the hull, has been used in the aerospace industry for many years, but is “susceptible to fatigue failure” in deep-sea pressure settings. Titanium is usually used for the hulls of submersibles. Carbon fiber is also expensive.
Thomas added that the organization would never have classified Titan based on the materials used. The Coast Guard also pointed out at the beginning of the hearing that Titan had not undergone an independent review, which is standard practice in the industry.
Titan broke down days before its fateful final dive.
Titan suffered more than 100 equipment problems in the two years before imploding in June 2023, including the loss of its forward dome during a test dive in 2021 and the This included mechanical failure during the expedition. The trip had to be canceled.
Marine scientist Stephen Ross testified that Titan also malfunctioned several days before the implosion.
Rush was planning a trip with Ross and others on board. At one point, Titan’s buoyancy issues caused the platform to shift, causing passengers to “tumble around,” Ross said. No one was injured, but it took an hour to get out of the water in such a tragic accident.
“One of the passengers was hanging upside down,” Ross said. “Others managed to wedge themselves into the end cap of the bow.”
The exact cause of the implosion may be ‘unknown’
Expert testimony from Bart Kemper of Kemper Engineering Services provided preliminary findings that may have contributed to the disaster.
Possibilities include damage to the carbon fiber hull, a manufacturing defect related to the hull, or problems with the acrylic windows, he said.
Ultimately, “the root cause of the implosion is unknown at this time,” Kemper said.
Ocean Gate co-founder Guillermo Thornlein, who left the company 10 years before the Titan disaster, continued to defend Rush’s efforts and said at the beginning of the hearing that the cause of the implosion may never be known. said.
“I don’t know who made what decision, when, based on what information,” he said at the hearing. “And to be honest, despite all your team’s investigative efforts, I don’t know if any of us will ever find out about this.”
Ocean Gate’s CEO was blunt: “Nobody’s dead.”
Witnesses of Rush painted a picture of a businessman who refused to slow down, even as he sought to innovate with the development of a new submersible.
Matthew McCoy, a former Ocean Gate operations engineer, described his “tense” meeting with Rush in 2017 and said what the CEO would do if he came under regulatory scrutiny at a U.S. port. testified about.
“If there was a problem with the Coast Guard, they would bribe the members of Congress to make the problem go away,” McCoy said, adding that he resigned soon afterward.
William Coenen, founder and CEO of submersible manufacturer Hydrospace Group, discussed Oceangate’s direction with Rush in 2018, as other companies in the industry took notice of his efforts. He said he spoke.
Mr. Rush’s “standard response was, ‘It’s taking too long,'” Mr. Coenen testified about Ocean Gate’s submersibles being classified by the industry. “‘It’s too expensive and they don’t know about this technology. I don’t have time to explain my technology.’
That same year, Mr. Lochridge confronted Mr. Rush about safety concerns before he was fired. In a transcript of the conversation released by the Coast Guard as part of the hearing, Rush denied he intended to put anyone at risk with the Titan.
“Everything I’ve done on this project has been people telling me it won’t work. You can’t do that,” Rush said.
“I can think of about 50 reasons why we would have to cancel, but we would fail as a company,” he added. “I’m not dead. No one has died within my watch period.”
