The Coast Guard will hear from former OceanGate employees about the Titan implosion
U.S. Coast Guard officials were expected to investigate Monday the implosion of an experimental vessel en route to the wreck of the Titanic. to hear from former employees of the company that owned the Titan submarine.
The purpose of the two-week hearing in Charleston County, South Carolina, is to “reveal the facts surrounding the incident and develop recommendations to prevent similar tragedies in the future,” the Coast Guard said in a statement earlier this month. The ongoing Marine Board of Investigation is the highest level of maritime accident investigation conducted by the Coast Guard.
The Titan imploded in the North Atlantic Ocean in June 2023, killing all five people on board, sparking a global debate about the future of private undersea exploration.
Among the dead was Stockton Rush, co-founder of OceanGate, the Washington state company that owned the Titan. The company suspended activities after the implosion. Witnesses scheduled to testify Monday include former OceanGate chief engineering officer Tony Nissen; the company’s former chief financial officer Bonnie Carl; and former contractor Tym Catterson.
Some key OceanGate officials will not testify. Among them is Rush’s widow, Wendy Rush, who was the company’s communications director.
The Coast Guard does not comment on the reasons why specific individuals are not called to a particular hearing during ongoing investigations, said Melissa Leake, a Coast Guard spokeswoman. She added that it is common for a Marine Board of Investigation to “hold multiple hearings or take additional depositions for complex cases.”
Later in the hearing, OceanGate co-founder Guillermo Sohnlein, former COO David Lochridge and former COO Steven Ross are scheduled to appear, according to a list compiled by the Coast Guard. Numerous Coast Guard officers, scientists and government and industry officials are also expected to testify. The U.S. Coast Guard has subpoenaed witnesses who were not government employees, Leake said.
OceanGate currently has no full-time employees, but will be represented by an attorney at the hearing, the company said in a statement. The company has fully cooperated with the Coast Guard and National Transportation Safety Board investigations since they began, the statement said.
“There are no words to ease the loss suffered by the families affected by this devastating incident, but we hope this hearing will help shed light on the cause of the tragedy,” the statement said.
The Titan became the subject of criticism in the underwater exploration community, partly because of its unconventional design and the decision by its creator to forgo standard independent checks. The implosion killed Rush and the veteran Titanic explorer Paul Henri Nargeolet; two members of a prominent Pakistani family, Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman Dawood; and British adventurer Hamish Harding.
Titan made its last dive on June 18, 2023, losing contact with its support ship about two hours later. When it was reported too late, rescue workers rushed in ships, planes and other equipment to an area approximately 700 kilometres south of St. John’s, Newfoundland.
The search for the submarine drew worldwide attention as it became increasingly unlikely that anyone could have survived the implosion. Wreckage from the Titan was subsequently found on the ocean floor, about 300 meters (330 yards) from the Titanic’s bow, Coast Guard officials said.
The time frame for the investigation was initially set to be a year, but the investigation has taken longer. The Coast Guard said in July that the hearing would look at “all aspects of the loss of the Titan,” including mechanical considerations as well as regulatory compliance and crew qualifications.
The Titan has been making voyages to the Titanic wreck site since 2021.