Testimony continues in Titan implosion hearing

The U.S. Coast Guard’s hearing on the Titan submersible implosion entered its second week as former employees continued to testify about conditions leading up to the fatal accident. The submersible imploded in June 2023 during a deep sea dive to view the Titanic, killing OceanGate CEO and co-founder Stockton Rush and four tourists on board.

Fellow OceanGate co-founder Guillermo Sohnlein addressed the Marine Board of Investigation on Monday and described the company’s founding and initial goals, according to a report by CNN. He said OceanGate aimed to have a small fleet of submersibles for research, able to reach thousands of meters underwater and be chartered by researchers across the world. OceanGate needed small vessels that could carry several people to deep levels without a dedicated mother ship, Sohnlein said. When no builder could deliver that, Rush decided to produce the subs in-house, he explained.

What have investigators heard so far? Testimony revealed potential issues with the vessel’s construction. Sohnlein was not involved with Titan’s development, but provided details on Rush’s designs for the submersible, which included a pressurized carbon fiber hull. Roy Thomas, an engineer with the American Bureau of Shipping, testified about the risks of using carbon fiber to construct a hull. Carbon fiber does not respond well to external pressure and will weaken over time, Thomas said, according to an Associated Press report.

Testimony from former OceanGate employees indicated that Rush prioritized profits over safety and habitually ignored problems brought to his attention. The company did very little in the way of science and was mostly about making money, former OceanGate Director of Marine Operations David Lochridge said last week, according to a report by the Associated Press. Lochridge described the company’s talk of safety as “smoke and mirrors,” adding that the expeditions always had issues.

Former OceanGate Engineering Director Phil Brooks described the company as economically stretched, according to reporting by CNN. Leaders asked employees to work without pay which resulted in compromising safety decisions, he said. Brooks added that Rush knew of the safety issues and wrote them off.

Former OceanGate engineering contractor Antonella Wilby said Rush also ignored the safety issues she highlighted, CNN reported. No aspect of the operation seemed safe, she said while testifying on Friday. It’s concerning when questions on safety are answered with “It’s what the company founder wants,” instead of actual design decisions and data, she said.

Marine scientist Steven Ross told investigators that the Titan malfunctioned during a dive just days before the fatal accident. The issues were never investigated, he explained. The Titan also hadn't been inspected by the Coast Guard since before 2021, he added.

Dig deeper: Listen to Mary Muncy’s report from The World and Everything in It podcast about how the Titan’s implosion raised questions about safety certification.