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Key revelations come from hearing on Coast Guard Titan submersible

Two weeks of public testimony ended Friday with the U.S. Coast Guard's investigation into what led to the submersible Titan imploding during a deep-sea dive last year, killing all five on board.

The findings will be published in a report, which may also include the information the panel believes caused the incident. whether there has been misconduct, negligence or a violation of law; and safety recommendations that could prevent future submersible disasters.

The South Carolina hearing was attended by former employees and executives of OceanGate, the Washington state-based operator of the Titan, some of whom were speaking publicly for the first time, as well as industry experts who tried to piece together the company's culture and its business plan and the lead-up to the fatal dive.

In June 2023, the Titan was descending for nearly two hours to view the Titanic wreck in the North Atlantic off Canada when the ship lost contact with its support ship, sparking a frantic search. The public's fascination only deepened with reports that “popping noises” were detected at the search site and amid concerns about how long the passengers could survive in a narrow tube without oxygen.

On board were OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, 61, who was piloting the Titan; deep-sea explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77, who had experience visiting the Titanic wreck site; British tycoon Hamish Harding, 58; and Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his son Suleman, 19.

Top row: Hamish Harding; Paul-Henri Nargeolet. Bottom row: Suleman and Shahzada Dawood; Stockton Rush.Dirty Dozen Productions; AFP via Getty Images; via LinkedIn; Courtesy of the Dawood family

Almost immediately, OceanGate came under fire as a result of the disaster, in part because civilian passengers paid $250,000 per person for the expedition, but also because there were fatal incidents involving submersibles – some of which dive as deep as $300,000 could the Titanic – are almost unknown. Here are the key revelations that emerged from the Coast Guard hearing:

Debris images helped confirm the implosion

At the start of the hearing, the Coast Guard released photos and videos of the Titanic's stern cone resting on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean near Titanic's bow.

While officials concluded in the initial investigation that the Titan was likely involved in a “catastrophic implosion” because the ship could not withstand the water pressure in the deep sea, the discovery of the wreckage gave them confidence that no one would survive have, they said.

The Coast Guard also revealed one of the last messages the Titan sent to its supply ship before losing contact: “All is well here.”

David Lochridge, OceanGate's former marine operations director, testified that Rush was more concerned with profits and cost-cutting measures than with building a viable submersible.

“The whole idea behind the company was to make money,” said Lochridge, who joined OceanGate in early 2016 and was fired from his position after about two years. “There was very little science.”

Lochridge then became embroiled in a legal battle with OceanGate, claiming he was fired for complaining about quality control.

Another former engineering manager, Tony Nissen, said he expressed concern to Rush after Titan's original hull – made of experimental carbon fiber that has not been proven to withstand repeated deep-sea pressures – was damaged, after being struck by lightning during an attack Nissen said he was fired after refusing to sign off for another test mission the following year, even telling Rush, “I'm not taking part in this,” and was referring to the Titan.

Meanwhile, OceanGate's former administrative director, Amber Bay, who joined the company in early 2019, testified that there were instances where the company was unable to meet payroll requirements, forcing Rush to resort to its own money.

“He increased his investment with a deposit, and we were able to meet payroll,” she said, adding that the financial situation was so tight that employees were also asked to delay their paychecks.

OSHA is accused of failing to examine safety concerns in a timely manner

In January 2018, after his firing from OceanGate, Lochridge said he submitted a quality control report on Titan's construction to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the federal agency that oversees workplace safety.

After Lochridge's termination, OceanGate filed a breach of contract lawsuit, alleging that he violated the terms of his contractual employment by discussing confidential information with other employees and OSHA representatives.

But instead of OSHA enforcing his claims, he said officials were slow to respond, allowing OceanGate to go unchecked in the development and construction of the Titan.

“I believe that if OSHA had attempted to investigate the seriousness of the concerns I have raised numerous times, this tragedy may have been prevented,” Lochridge said.

An OSHA spokesman said in a response to NBC News that the agency had referred his safety allegations to the Coast Guard, which is responsible for investigating such claims. The agency said it could only investigate his allegations of workplace retaliation and that “the investigation followed the normal process and timeline for a retaliation case.”

After Lochridge and OceanGate agreed to settle their dispute in late 2018, OSHA ended its investigation “according to the terms of the parties' agreement,” the spokesman said.

Titanium has never been reviewed by an industry organization

Roy Thomas, an engineer with the American Bureau of Shipping, testified that OceanGate had never contacted the organization that advises and verifies whether a seagoing vessel meets industry standards.

Thomas said the choice of primary material for the hull, carbon fiber, long used in the aerospace industry, was “prone to fatigue failure” in deep-sea pressurized conditions. Diving hulls are typically made of titanium; Carbon fiber is also more expensive.

Thomas added that the organization never classified the Titan based on the materials used. The Coast Guard also noted at the start of the hearing that the Titan had never undergone an independent review, which is common practice in the industry.

Just days before the doomed final dive, the Titan malfunctioned

The Titan experienced more than 100 equipment problems in the two years before the June 2023 implosion, including the loss of its forward dome during a test dive in 2021 and a mechanical failure during an expedition to the Titanic that same year. This trip had to be canceled.

The Titan also malfunctioned days before the implosion, as oceanographer Steven Ross testified. Rush piloted a voyage with Ross and others on board. At some point, a problem with the Titan's buoyancy caused the platform to shift and passengers to “stumble around,” Ross said. No one was injured but it took an hour to get out of the water in such a disturbing incident, he added.

“One passenger was hanging upside down,” Ross said. “The others managed to wedge themselves into the bow end cap.”

Exact cause of implosion may be 'undetermined'

Expert testimony from Bart Kemper of Kemper Engineering Services provided preliminary insight into what may have caused the disaster.

Possibilities, he said, include a fracture of the carbon fiber hull, a manufacturing defect related to the hull or a problem with the acrylic window.

Ultimately, “the root cause of the implosion remains undetermined at this time,” Kemper said.

Earlier in the hearing, OceanGate co-founder Guillermo Söhnlein, who left the company a decade before the Titan disaster but remained committed to Rush's efforts, said the cause of the implosion may never be known. “I don’t know who made what decision, when and based on what information,” he told the hearing panel. “And honestly, despite your team's best investigative efforts, I don't know if any of us will ever know.”

OceanGate CEO had a cavalier attitude: “Nobody dies”

Witnesses who knew Rush painted a picture of a businessman who sought innovation in developing a new type of submersible but also refused to slow down.

Matthew McCoy, a former operations engineer at OceanGate, testified about a “tense” meeting with Rush in 2017 about what the CEO said he would do if he came under regulatory scrutiny at a U.S. port.

“If the Coast Guard became a problem, he would buy a congressman and make him disappear,” McCoy said, adding that he resigned soon after.

William Kohnen, CEO and founder of submersible maker Hydrospace Group, said he spoke to Rush about hosting OceanGate in 2018 when industry colleagues became aware of his activities.

Rush “gave the usual response: 'It's taking too long,'” Kohnen testified about the industry's classification of the OceanGate submersible. “'It's too expensive and they don't know anything about this technology. I don't have time to explain my technology.'”

That same year, Lochridge had confronted Rush about his safety concerns before his dismissal. In a transcript of the conversation released by the Coast Guard as part of the hearing, Rush denied that he would endanger anyone on the Titan.

“Everything I’ve done on this project, people have told me it won’t work — you can’t do that,” Rush said.

“I can think of 50 reasons why we have to cancel and why we are failing as a company,” he added. “I'm not dying. No one dies on my watch – period.”

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