A public hearing began today into the Titan submersible’s disastrous deep-sea voyage following its implosion on its journey to the wreck of the Titanic, killing all five passengers on board.
Ten former employees of Oceangate – the US submersible company that operated the expedition – are among 24 witnesses giving testimony to the Titan Marine Board of Investigation.
An animation of the Titan’s fated journey revealed a chilling final communications between the Titan and the support vessel Polar Prince. The support vessel repeated the same question, prompting that team to ask for “better comms” from the Titan crew. In one of its final messages, the crew wrote: “all good here.”
The Titan sub was attempting to dive 2.4 miles to reach the Titanic shipwreck which lies 380 miles from St John’s in Newfoundland, Canada, when it lost contact on June 18 2023. After four days, debris of the submersible was found close to the wreck.
The implosion claimed the lives of British explorer Hamish Harding, British-Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, OceanGate’s CEO Stockton Rush and French deep-sea explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet.
The investigation will detect whether there was criminal activity or “negligence by credentialed mariners,” Jason Neubauer, Titan Marine Board of Investigation’s chairman, said on Sunday.
Key points 16.09.24
- Today’s schedule: Day one of OceanGate Titan sub hearing
- Ten ex-OceanGate employees among witnesses
- Timeline of tragedy that saw five killed in Titan sub implosion
- First Titan submersible hearing kicks off
Catterson said he had ‘doubts’ — and voiced them
21:54
Kelly Rissman
“I had my doubts,” Catterson said about the carbon fiber hull.
“I think that when you put it under compression, they can buckle, they can shift, they can move all these directions three-directionally,” he added.
When aksed if he had voiced his concerns about the hull to any OceanGate employees, Catterson said he told Stockton Rush, Tony Nissen, the first witness today who is an engineer, and David Lochridge, who was terminated shortly after detailing his concerns with the Titan’s design in an inspection report.
A series of unfortunate events after the Titan went undetected
21:33
Kelly Rissman
The Canadian Coast Guard had been hearing a consistent “knocking” sound, Catterson said. The witness explained that the consistency signaled that the noise was coming from humans, distinct from the ocean sounds.
He thought the submersible was drifting.
The Polar Prince did not have a remotely operative vehicle (ROV) on board.
When a ROV did arrive, and it was determined that it could help find the submersible, it went to the bottom of the seafloor but died. So efforts then included recovering this “dead ROV,” Catterson said. They then tried to use sonar off the ROV to detect the submersible, but it didn’t work.
Pelagic Research Services’ ROV later arrived at the scene, and found debris within 10 minutes, he said.
Witness reveals insight into the search and rescue process
21:24
Kelly Rissman
Catterson said he was part of the search and rescue operations. He was on the Polar Prince, the support vessel.
“We did everything that we could to determine whether it was a communications issue or something else,” he recalled.
Both the tracking and communications both stopped because OceanGate was using the accoustic modem, which is tied to the depth sensor for tracking purposes, also as a communications link, which was atypical, he said.
“Normally there would have been two devices,” Catterson told the panel. “This is the first case I’ve ever seen” where communications and tracking were tied together, meaning “when one fails, so does the other.”
‘No red flags’ on launch day, Catterson says
21:11
Kelly Rissman
The expediton was repeatedly “weathered out,” he said, given the intense fog.
On June 18th, he said it was sunny, so it was really the only day they could have gone. It was like the day was “blessed,” he said.
OceanGate had an “extensive pre-dive,” Catterson told the panel. They started at 4am, four hours before the submersible’ launched.
He said he had never experienced such a lengthy process: “There were so many things that had to be checked. Subs do not have that many things to check over.”
Catterson was tasked with the dive checks.
“There were no red flags,” he said. “It was a good day.”
‘Like a bathtub compared to the North Atlantic’: Catterson said the training wasn’t reflective of the conditions the Titan would see on its mission
20:56
Kelly Rissman
When asked whether OceanGate staffing in Expedition 2023 was “sufficient to ensure safety,” Catterson paused before responding: “I think training and operations at sea could have been better.”
They did their training out of Everett which is “like a bathtub compared to the North Atlantic,” he said. They didn’t have practice in rougher conditions, like fog. “The training probably didn’t reflect as good as a base of knowledge for out there,” referring to where the Titan set sail.
Ex-contractor recalls drop weight problems
20:51
Kelly Rissman
Catterson recalled drop weight issues on the two test dives he was a part of years before the ill-fated Titan set sail.
He described how drop weights work. “The sub became neutral so the sub became neutral...They were only able to drop 70 pounds. That’s not enough to do what they needed to have happen,” Catterson told the panel.
WATCH: James Cameron likens Titan submersible tragedy to Titanic
20:43
Kelly Rissman
The Titan was the first sub Catterson worked on that hadn’t been classed, he testifies
20:28
Kelly Rissman
When asked whether it was typical for submersibles to be classed, Catterson said: “yes.”
The Titan “would have been the first one that was not classed,” he said.
Catterson recalled conversations he had with Rush about needing to get the submersible classified — which he described as “short.”
The former contractor said he told Rush that classification is “proof of due diligence” and a way to get insurance. However, Catterson got the impression that classing the vessel “wasn’t a big of a worry for him as it is for most people.”
Tym Catterson, former OceanGate contractor, takes the stand
20:21
Kelly Rissman
Catterson has been working with manned submersibles since the 1980s for a variety of companies.
He started working with OceanGate in 2003 or 2004. He said the company’s co-founders were unfamiliar with subs when he was hired.
OceanGates’s finances and safety measures under the microscope
19:47
Kelly Rissman
“There was no drug testing,” Carl said.
When asked about whether safety was ever an agenda item of an OceanGate meeting, she said she couldn’t recall.
She revealed the company “basically didn’t have any money coming in” aside from investors.
“We got very low but to the point where I got very concerned that we weren’t going to make payroll one week,” she said. Rush would essentially provide a temporary loan to the company when that would happen, she said. “He would write a check.”
Carl was released as a witness.
Carl outlined her safety concerns
19:34
Kelly Rissman
Carl had received some pilot traning in addition to her other roles, where she spotted some “red flags.”
“As a pilot in training, there were a couple things that gave me pause,” she said. She said she had asked Mr Nissen, the first witness, about the acrylic dome, however he wouldn’t let her see the paperwork for it.
She added that the O-Ring groove also “looked odd.”
She said she brought most of her concerns to David Lochridge, who was later fired after a writing an inspection report detailing his concerns about the vessel.
Shortly after showing Rush the inspection report, Carl understood that Lochridge was likely going to be terminated. She recalled that Lochridge had insisted on unmanned testing but Rush wanted to push forward, leading them to an “impasse” in which they had to “part ways.”
After the meeting with Lochridge, she said she started looking for another job. “If that was there attitude toward safety,” she didn’t want to work there, she said.
She left in February 2018.
Ex-OceanGate employees paint picture of founder Stockton Rush
19:28
Kelly Rissman
During their testimony on Monday, two former employees told the Coast Guard panel about their involvement in the company — including their impressions of Stockton Rush.
Both former employees described a man who often made sure to get his way.
“All decisons were made by Stockton,” Carl revealed, even among discussions with board members.
Nissen had also said that dealing with Rush was like “death by a thousand cuts.”
The engineer said: “Stockton would fight for what he wanted...And he wouldn’t give an inch much. At all,” he said. “Most people would eventually back down from Stockton.”
'All good here’
19:18
Kelly Rissman
Those were some of the final words that the doomed Titan submersible crew communicated before the submersible imploded on its mission to the Titanic wreckage site in June 2023.
The message, revealed as part of the Coast Guard’s Monday hearing into the circumstances of the failed mission, was sent to support vessel Polar Prince on June 18, 2023, shortly before the submersible imploded, killing all five of its crew members. It was an incident that captivated both sides of the Atlantic as crews made a mad dash to save the crew after the sub lost contact with the surface - with the world unaware that the lives had been lost.
The Coast Guard played an animated re-enactment of the Titan’s voyage that captured the submersible’s final, spotty exchange with the Polar Prince, during the Monday hearing that shed new light on the sub’s final mission.
Read the full story...
Ex HR director reveals the behind the scenes of mission specialist role
19:16
Kelly Rissman
Carl, the head of HR for OceanGate, said there were two requirements she was aware of to become a mission specialist: being able to fit in the submersible and money.
While she said there were waivers and liability forms that mission specialists were supposed to sign, she said she had never seen anyone sign them, adding she “assumed” they would sign the forms before the expedition.
Funds ‘immediately’ went toward operations: witness testifies
19:08
Kelly Rissman
Most of the shareholders were friends of Stockton Rush, Carl testified.
She said she was unaware of any refunds if the expeditions were cancelled. “There was no money for refunds,” she said, adding that the funds were “immediately” used for operations.
Bonnie Carl takes the stand
18:58
Kelly Rissman
The second witness is the director of human resources and finance at OceanGate. She is calling in remotely.
She told the panel about her background as an accountant.
WATCH: Titan crew's final three-word text revealed in haunting animation of submersible's journey
18:55
Kelly Rissman
Nissen’s testimony concludes
17:55
Kelly Rissman
After hours on the stand, Nissen’s testimony came to an end.
The Coast Guard panel is expected to hear from two other ex OceanGate employees today: Bonnie Carl, the former Human Resources/Finance director and Tym Catterson, a former contractor.
Nissen discusses the ‘pressure’ felt to jumpstart operations
17:48
Kelly Rissman
When asked if there was “pressure” to start operations, Nissen said: “100 percent.”
‘All good here’: Animation reveals haunting final text from crew
16:56
Kelly Rissman
The MBI’s animation at the start of the hearing showed final communications between and the support vessel Polar Prince and the Titan before the implosion.
The animation highlighted the spotty communications in text bubbles.,
The Polar Prince sent repeated messages that largely went unanswered. One of Titan’s final responses was “all good here,” according to the animation.
The Marine Board presented an animation model in support of the Titan submersible hearing. The entire video can be viewed from the MBI website https://t.co/3TwwWq8TGt and downloaded from here: https://t.co/7lZwbu0dXZ#TitanMBI pic.twitter.com/PToLMpLFw0
— USCG MaritimeCommons (@maritimecommons) September 16, 2024
MBI provides detailed diagram of the doomed sub
16:51
Kelly Rissman
Today, the Marine Board of Investigation presents basic factual information about the loss of life and total constructive loss of the Titan submersible. The first full exhibit can downloaded from the #TitanMBI website: https://t.co/h3ySH0PhiA
— USCG MaritimeCommons (@maritimecommons) September 16, 2024
at this link: https://t.co/RbSt4GzJNP pic.twitter.com/RNOvhTS6ZE
Nissen wouldn’t sign off on test due to damaged hull, he testified
16:38
Kelly Rissman
“I wouldn’t sign off on it. So I got terminated,” Nissen testified.
Rush invited him to lunch. Board members told Rush that Nissen should have “known that the hull was compromised. And it wouldn’t work. Either he or I had to go,” Nissen recalled Rush telling him. “It’s not going to be me.”
Even before the crack was found in the hull, Nissen recalled warning: “This submersible, what we’re doing has never been done before....We don’t know what good is supposed to look like. But what I do know is it shouldn’t like that.”
‘The maddest I’ve seen Stockton’
16:31
Kelly Rissman
In the spring of 2019, when Rush wanted to send Titan to New Foundland, Nissen looked at the acoustic data and said: “it’s not clean.”
He said there are issues in the center and left of the case. “It was the maddest I’ve seen Stockton,” he testified.
They conducted more dives, which again weren’t as “clean” as they wanted. In one dive, a crack was found in the hull that turned out to be larger than they first realized.
WATCH: Resurfaced OceanGate video shows Titan prototype leaking water
16:20
Kelly Rissman
The hearing will reconvene at 11.15am
16:00
Kelly Rissman
Nissen’s testimony will resume after a brief 15-minute break, when the Coast Guard panel will review a new document he is supplying.
The 2018 inspection report was ‘surprising,’ Nissen said
15:56
Kelly Rissman
David Lochridge, a pilot, provided a “surprising” inspection report, according to Nissen. His report detailed concerns about the carbon fiber hull; he was fired not long after the meeting — which Nissen called “the meeting.”
Ocean Gate later sued Lochridge, alleging breach of contract, while Lochridge filed a counterclaim against the business.
His 2018 report “identified numerous issues that posed serious safety concerns” but he was allegedly “met with hostility and denial of access” to necessary documents, according to Lochridge’s suit brought after he was terminated.
The Titan’s classification and certification under scrutiny
15:46
Kelly Rissman
When asked why there was no effort to seek certification and classification, Nissen put the blame on OceanGate founder Stockton Rush.
“I wouldn’t say there was no ‘effort.’ There was no desire by Stockton to go do it,” he said.
WATCH: Did The Titan Sub Victims Know What Would Happen To Them?
15:35
Kelly Rissman
Problems with the carbon fiber hull revealed in smaller scale
15:31
Kelly Rissman
The 1/3 scale model was built before Nissen got there. The scale showed the model imploding, he said.
Nissen said he and Stockton were “concerned” about an interstitial void because of what they saw at the 1/3 scale of the vessel.
Brian Spencer, who Nissen said led the carbon fiber hull’s manufacture, was “unwilling to change” his plans.
Nissen gives insight into how OceanGate was run: ‘It was like a death by a thousand cuts’
15:21
Kelly Rissman
“Don’t reinvent something if someone’s already got it,” he said, referring to the glass spheres. If they aren’t oil filled, they can be catastrophic, he said.
He said he did not make all the engineering decisions, but he did make stone. Stockton Rush made most, Nissen said.
“My job was more rounding up the cattle” and “raising technical questions,” he clarified.
For example, Nissen expressed some discomfort with not having witness panels, which he described as “basic.”
When asked about Rush, he said he was “struggling to find the professional words” to use to describe his interactions with employees. “Stockton would fight for what he wanted...And he wouldn’t give an inch much. At all,” he said. “Most people would eventually back down from Stockton. It was like a death by a thousand cuts.”
Nissen testifies
15:07
Kelly Rissman
Nissen said he was the first OceanGate employee.
The former engineer director said he was unaware of the Titan’s mission when he joined. “They were going to build a deep-sea carbon fiber hull submersible,” he said.
Tony Nissen, former OceanGate engineering director, takes the stand
14:55
Kelly Rissman
Nissen said he was an electronic tech in the Navy before going to hyperbaric medicine. After he graduated from UC Berkeley, he worked in space, aircrafts and then was hired in March 2016 as the director of engineering in at OceanGate.
“There are some things that bother me professionally and personally,” he said, adding that he found some things “disturbing” in the presentation.
He said he was pitched by OceanGate to “put together the parts and start executing it,” referring to the Titan, which was once known as the Cyclops II.
“I wasn’t asked to design a sub,” he said. “I was never told they were going to the Titanic.” He said he wasn’t directly told that the submersible was going to the wreckage site.
Recess
14:39
Kelly Rissman
The hearings are taking a quick recess and will resume at 9.40am.
Animation shows chilling exchange leading up to the fatal implosion
14:28
Kelly Rissman
After a detailed presentation of the Titan’s development timeline, the MBI is showing an animation of the submersible’s path along with chilling text bubbles re-enacting an exchange between the crew and the comms team on the support vessel before the fatal implosion.
At one point, the animation showed the comms team asking the crew the same question seven times in a row without reply. After saying it needed “better comms,” the team repeated the question three more times.
In photos: Remembering the Titan explorers
14:11
Kelly Rissman
MBI lays out alleged shortcomings in Titan’s design and testing
14:02
Kelly Rissman
The MBI’s presentation is revealing the series of complications and failures that the Titan prototype faced from 2017 onward.
The MBI made mentions to the vessel’s notorious carbon hull, an atypical material used for a deep-sea vessel, which saw “no third party oversight” and “no non-destructive testing.”
The Titan was tested at 1.09x the operating pressure, but the industry standard is 1.25x the operating pressure once every five years, the board said.
From June 28 to August 6, 2021, 10 dives were attempted — but only six were successful to the Titanic depth, with 70 equipment issues “requiring correcting,” according to MBI.
A year later, from June 14 to July 25, there were 13 dives attempted but only seven were successful. This time there were 48 equipment issues, including drop weights malfunction. From July 26 to February 6, 2023, the vessel was then stored uncovered in a dock “without protection from the elements.”
Who died in the implosion?
13:48
Kelly Rissman
Founder Stockton Rush, 61, French explorer Paul Henri Nargeolet, 77, British explorer Hamish Harding, 58, UK-based Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his 19-year-old son Suleman all lost their lives in the doomed vessel.
What the MBI is investigating:
13:42
Kelly Rissman
- Potential failure of material (physical or design) was involved or contributed to the casualty
- Potential misconduct, inattention, negligence, willful violation off the law
- Potential evidence that Coast Guard representatives or other government personnel were involved
NTSB will also investigate
13:38
Kelly Rissman
The NTSB is also sitting in on the hearing.
It will determine a cause independent of the Coast Guard and will issue safety protocols if necessary.
First Titan submersible hearing kicks off
13:35
Kelly Rissman
Marine Board of the Investigation (MBI) chair Jason Neubauer kicked off the hearing by underscoring the purpose of the hearing is to “investigate the circumstances surrounding the loss of the submersible.”
He expressed his sympathies to the five who lost their lives on the fated mission.
The investigation will look for “factors” that led to this catastrophe and try to learn how to prevent them in the future as well as examine whether the “acts of misconduct, negligence, or willful violation of the law” contributed to these casualties. The hearings will also investigate the Coast Guard’s search and rescue operations.
The MBI will send its findings to the commandant of the Coast Guard.
What to expect at today’s hearing
13:25
Kelly Rissman
8:30 a.m. – Opening Remarks
9:00 a.m. – 5 Minute Recess
9:15 a.m. – Overview of Incident and Voyage Animation
9:45 a.m. – 10 Minute Recess
10:00 a.m. – Tony Nissen, former OceanGate Engineering Director
12:30 p.m. – Lunch
1:30 p.m. – Bonnie Carl, former OceanGate Human Resources/Finance Director
3:30 p.m. – 10 Minute Recess
3:45 p.m. – Tym Catterson, former OceanGate contractor
5:15 p.m. – Break Down
Titan sub hearing to start imminently
13:15
James Liddell
The public hearing into the Titan submersible’s disastrous deep-sea voyage following its implosion en route to the Titanic wreck last year is set to start in just minutes.
Opening remarks begin at about 8.30am ET in Charleston County, South Carolina followed by a 30-minute overview of the incident before evidence is given from three witnesses throughout the day - all of whom are former OceanGate staff or suppliers.
A break down of the day’s events will take place at approximately 5.15pm to wrap up proceedings.
Watch: Moment wreckage of missing sub found
12:50
James Liddell
In pictures: Five men killed in Titan sub implosion
12:25
James Liddell
Hearing could help family of deceased ‘get answers’
12:03
James Liddell
The findings from the Coast Guard’s two-week long enquiry into the Titan sub disaster could provide evidence to bolster lawsuits targeting OceanGate and other parties – including one wrongful-death suit already filed from one of the victims’s families.
Attorneys for the estate of Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77, argued that the “doomed submersible” had a “troubled history”, with OceanGate failing to disclose key facts about the vessel prior to the voyage, according to the Guardian.
It alleged that “many of the particulars about the vessel’s flaws and shortcomings were not disclosed and were purposely concealed”.
The legal team is seeking “answers for the family as to exactly how this happened,” as one of Nargeolet’s family attorneys put it.
The findings from the hearing may help do just that.
On Sunday, chair of the Titan Marine Board of Investigation Jason Neubauer said that the inquiry wasn’t merely a “formality”.
“The purpose of this administrative hearing is to uncover the facts surrounding the incident,” he said at a press conference in Charleston County, South Carolina.
“We are charged also to detect misconduct or negligence by credentialed mariners, and if there’s any detection of a criminal act, we would make a recommendation to the Department of Justice.”
Who were the five ‘true explorers’ killed in Titan sub implosion?
11:43
James Liddell
Five men died following the implosion of the Titan submarine as they embarked on a tourist voyage to the Titanic 14 months ago.
Just days after the tragic OceanGate expedition, the company said that those on board were “true explorers” that all “shared a distinct spirit of adventure”.
OceanGate’s co-founder Stockton Rush was one of those that died inside the Titan sub. The 61-year-old Californian father-of-two founded the submersibles company in 2009.
British-Pakistani businessman and philanthropist Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his son Suleman, 19, were also on board the sub upon its implosion. Dawood was named a young global leader by the World Economic Forum in 2009 before delivering a talk at the UN in 2020 in celebration of women in STEM.
British businessman Hamish Harding, 58, was an avid explorer. He had previously visited the South Pole numerous times, descended more than 10,000m to the Challenger Deep of the Mariana Trench, and flew to space in 2022 as part of the suborbital Blue Origin O NS-21 mission.
Paul-Henry Nargeolet was a 77-year-old former French navy diver and renowned explorer. He earned the sobriquet “Mr Titanic” after diving to the wreck in 1987, 1993, 1994 and 1996.
His first expedition collected the first artefacts from the shipwreck.
Four key questions to be answered
11:23
James Liddell
Four key questions remain 14 months after the doomed Titan submarine voyage which saw five people killed, with a Coast Guard public hearing set to embark from 8.30am ET this morning.
Twenty 24 witnesses – including 10 former OceanGate personnel – are due to testify across the two-week long inquiry at the Charleston County Council Building in South Carolina.
The inquiry will look to ascertain both the cause of the incident and whether there is evidence of design or material failures that contributed to the incident.
It will also look to uncover whether there is any evidence of misconduct – negligence or purpose violation – that contributed to the incident, or evidence of Coast Guard personnel or any other government employee that contributed to the cause of disaster.
Watch: Early Titan prototype suffers ‘water intrusion’ years before doomed voyage
11:03
James Liddell
A video of an early Titan prototype emerged showing the doomed tourist sub suffering from “apparent water intrusion” during testing years before the catastrophe that claimed five lives.
In haunting footage, OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush can be seen explaining that the use of carbon fibre in the design “has never been done at this size or to this depth”.
While the investigation into last June’s disaster is still ongoing, experts have speculated that the “experimental” Titan’s carbon fibre hull gradually weakened over time, culminating in the implosion that claimed the lives of five men including Mr Rush, 61.
Emma Guinness has the full story.
OceanGate staff and suppliers say they’ll ‘plead the Fifth’ if asked to testify
10:28
James Liddell
Several former OceanGate staff members and suppliers allegedly said that they’d invoke the Fifth Amendment if compelled to give testimony in the US Coast Guard’s hearing, anonymized sources close to the investigation told WIRED.
Ten former OceanGate staff have been subpoenaed and are set to testify in the Coast Guard’s Titan Marine Board of Investigation Hearing, spanning two-weeks in Charleston County, South Carolina.
According to the outlet, the US Coast Guard allegedly approached other “contemporary OceanGate staff and executives, and third-party suppliers, but was told that if compelled to appear they would assert their Fifth Amendment rights”.
It would mean the alleged those individuals would refuse to answer questions that might provide incriminating information about oneself in accordance with the Fifth Amendment of the US Constitution – the so-called right to remain silent.
An individual can only invoke the Fifth Amendment in response to compelled speech, such as in this instance through subpoena.
Today’s schedule: Three OceanGate witnesses to testify on day one of hearing
10:12
James Liddell
The Coast Guard’s Titan Marine Board of Investigation Hearing is set to begin today into the Titan submersible’s disastrous deep-sea voyage which saw the deaths of all five people onboard last June.
Opening remarks will be made at approximately 8.30am ET in Charleston County, South Carolina followed by a 30-minute overview and animation of the incident before evidence is given from three witnesses throughout the day.
Former OceanGate Engineering Director Tony Nissen, former OceanGate Human Resources/Finance Director Bonnie Carl and former OceanGate Contractor Tym Catterson are set to testify today, according to the Coast Guard.
A break down of the day’s events will take place at approximately 5.15pm to wrap up proceedings. The hearing will continue at about 8.30am on Tuesday.
Timeline: How the deep-sea Titan submarine disaster unfolded
10:09
James Liddell
Five crew members began their 4,000m descent to the Titanic shipwreck precisely 456 days ago.
But about 105 minutes into the trip on June 18, 2023, the Titan submersible stopped communicating with its mothership. Four days later, fragments of the vessel were found near the bow of sunken Titanic following a seeming “catastrophic implosion”.
In the weeks after the disaster, Bevan Hurley and Martha McHardy explained what happened the day the Titan sub disappeared and the days of turmoil that followed.
Ten ex-OceanGate employees among witnesses
09:59
James Liddell
Ten former OceanGate employees will be among the 24 witnesses set to give testimony during the US Coast Guard’s two-week long hearing, according to the US Coast Guard.
Former Engineering Director Tony Nissen, former Human Resources and Finance Director Bonnie Carl, former Contractor Tym Catterson, former Operations Director David Lochridge, Mission Specialist Renata Rojas, former Scientific Director Steven Ross, Mission Specialist Fred Hagen, former Co-Founder Guillermo Sohnlein, former Engineering Director Phil Brooks, former Director of Administration Amber Bay will testifyin Charleston County, South Carolina.
What is the purpose of the hearing?
09:56
James Liddell
The chairman of the Titan Marine Board of Investigation revealed that the purpose of the Coast Guard’s public hearing into the Titan submarine disaster is to “find facts” and prevent a similar incident from occurring in the future.
Jason Neubauer, the deputy chief of the Coast Guard’s Office of Investigations and Analysis, held a press conference on Sunday ahead of the two-week hearing which commences at 8.30am ET on Monday.
“Over the past 15 months, our team has worked continuously, in close coordination with multiple federal agencies, international partners and industry experts to uncover the facts surrounding this incident,” he said.
Neubauer expressed that the proceedings are not merely “formality” but are crucial in enhancing understanding about how the tragic incident on board the Titan submarine occurred last June, killing all five crew members on board.
He continued: “The purpose of this administrative hearing is to uncover the facts surrounding the incident. We are charged also to detect misconduct or negligence by credentialed mariners, and if there’s any detection of a criminal act, we would make a recommendation to the Department of Justice. But the main focus of the hearing is to find the facts and make recommendations to make sure it does not happen again.
“But more importantly, I think we can also go globally, to the International Maritime Organization that oversees the operations on the high seas and in other countries.
“So, I think that’s another possible outcome of this hearing.”
Coast Guard to hear from former OceanGate employees
09:50
James Liddell
US Coast Guard officials investigating the implosion of an experimental watercraft en route to the wreck of the Titanic were scheduled Monday to hear from former employees of the company that owned the Titan submersible.
The aim of the two-week hearing in Charleston County, South Carolina, is to “uncover 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 marine casualty investigation conducted by the Coast Guard.
Patrick Whittle has the full story.
