- The U.S. Coast Guard on Monday released details of the final communications sent by the Titan's crew before the submersible's fatal implosion on June 18, 2023, including the message, “All is well here.”
- Titan had been exposed to the elements for seven months prior to the accident, and the hull had not been subjected to an independent inspection.
- The hearings, conducted by the Board of Naval Investigation, are aimed at determining what caused the Titan explosion and preventing future tragedies.
In a reenactment of the voyage before the Titanic ruptured and killed all five crew members, one of the last words heard from the crew of an experimental submersible heading for the sunken ship was, “We're OK.”
The US Coast Guard released the animation on Monday, the first day of a two-week hearing into the cause of the explosion, and it showed that Titan crew members had been communicating by text message with staff on the support ship Polar Prince.
As the submersible sank, after exchanging text messages about its depth and weight, contact with the crew was lost. Polar Prince then repeatedly messaged Titan on its onboard display, asking if it could still see the vessel. One of Titan's final responses, which became more staccato as it sank, was “We're OK here.”
Coast Guard issues update nearly a year after deadly Titan submersible explosion
Titan exploded on June 18, 2023, sparking a global debate about the future of civilian undersea exploration.
Coast Guard members of the Titan Marine Commission's Investigative Committee for Formal Hearings are sworn in at the Charleston County Council Chambers in North Charleston, South Carolina, Sept. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Mick Smith)
Coast Guard representatives, in their initial remarks on Monday, said the submersible had been exposed to the elements while in storage for seven months in 2022 and 2023. They also said the hull was not inspected by a third party, which is standard procedure. That, and its unconventional design, have made Titan the subject of scrutiny in the undersea exploration community.
The first witness to testify at the hearing, Tony Nissen, Ocean Gate's former director of engineering, testified Monday that he felt rushed to start operations during his time at the company. Asked if there was pressure to put the Titan out to sea, Nissen replied, “100 percent.”
The Marine Board also asked Nissen whether he felt the pressure had compromised safety judgment and testing. After a long pause, Nissen replied, “No. That's a hard question to answer, because if you have infinite time and infinite budget, you can do infinite testing.”
Family of Titanic dive expedition survivor files $50 million wrongful death lawsuit
Nissen also said Titan may have been struck by lightning during a test mission in 2018, potentially damaging the hull. He was fired in 2019, the same year the submersible did not visit the Titanic. He also told Rush that Titan “was not performing as we wanted it to.”
The former director of engineering said the submersible subsequently underwent other tests and adjustments before diving into the Titanic, but he said he did not trust the operations staff, and testified that when Stockton asked him to operate the submersible, he replied, “I'm not in it.”
Nissen testified that working for Rusch was tough, that he was very sensitive about costs, project schedules and other issues, that Rusch fought for what he wanted, which often changed from day to day, and that he tried to keep his conflicts with Rusch private so others at the company wouldn't find out.
“Most people end up moving back to Stockton,” he said.
This undated image provided by Ocean Gate Expeditions in June 2021 shows the company's Titan submersible. (Ocean Gate Expeditions via The Associated Press, File)
The ongoing Marine Board of Investigation is the highest level of maritime investigation conducted by the Coast Guard. Once the hearings are complete, it will provide a recommendation to the Commandant of the Coast Guard. The National Transportation Safety Board is also investigating.
“There are no words that can ease the pain experienced by the families of the victims of this tragic incident,” said Jason Neubauer of the Coast Guard's Investigative Service, which led the hearing, “but we hope this hearing will shed light on what caused the tragedy and help prevent something like this from happening again.”
Among the victims was Stockton Rush, co-founder of OceanGate, the Washington company that owned the Titan and suspended operations after the explosion.
Also scheduled to speak were the company's former financial director, Bonnie Karl, and former contractor, Tim Catterson.
Efforts continue to recover the Titan submersible with the help of a remotely operated vehicle
Several key representatives of Ocean Gate are not scheduled to testify, including Mr. Rush's widow, Wendy Rush, who served as the company's public relations director.
Coast Guard spokeswoman Melissa Leake said the agency would not comment on why it had not called certain individuals for specific hearings during an ongoing investigation, adding that it is “common for the Marine Board of Investigation to hold multiple hearings and/or present additional witness testimony in complex cases.”
Among those scheduled to appear at the hearing, according to a list compiled by the Coast Guard, will be OceanGate co-founder Guillermo Zoneline, former director of operations David Lockridge and former director of science Stephen Ross. Numerous Guard officials, scientists, government and industry personnel are also scheduled to testify. The U.S. Coast Guard has issued subpoenas to witnesses who are not government employees, Leake said.
Ocean Gate said in a statement that it does not currently have a full-time employee but will be represented by an attorney at the hearing. The company has cooperated fully with the Coast Guard and National Transportation Safety Board investigations since they began, the statement said.
Also killed in the explosion were veteran Titanic explorer Paul-Henri Narjolet, Shahzada Daud of a prominent Pakistani family and her 19-year-old son Suleiman Daud, and British adventurer Hamish Harding.
Coast Guard members of the Titan Marine Commission's Investigative Committee for Formal Hearings held a moment of silence in the Charleston County Council Chambers in North Charleston, South Carolina, on September 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Mick Smith)
The Titan then lost contact with a support vessel about two hours after completing its final dive. After receiving reports of delays, rescuers rushed boats, planes and other equipment to the area about 435 miles south of St. John's, Newfoundland.
The search for the submersible attracted worldwide attention as the possibility of any survivors from the explosion became increasingly slim. The wreckage of the Titanic was later found on the ocean floor about 330 yards from the ship's bow, Coast Guard officials said.
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The investigation, originally scheduled to last a year, has taken longer than that, and the Coast Guard said in July that the hearings would look into “all aspects of the Titan's sinking,” including not only mechanical issues but also compliance with regulations and the qualifications of the crew.
Titan has been sailing to the Titanic wreck site since 2021.
