Titan submersible scientific director says it malfunctioned just before Titanic dive

The OceanGate submersible imploded en route to Titanic site in 2023, raising questions about company operations and safety practices

The scientific director for the company that owned the Titan submersible that imploded last year while on its way to the Titanic wreckage testified Thursday (September 19, 2024) that the sub had malfunctioned just before the fatal dive.

Appearing before a U.S. Coast Guard panel, Steven Ross told the board about a platform issue the experimental submersible experienced in June 2023, just days before it imploded on its way to the Titanic site. The malfunction caused passengers onboard the submersible to “tumble about,” and it took an hour to get them out of the water.

“The submersible pilot, OceanGate co-founder Stockton Rush, crashed into bulkheading during the malfunction,” Mr. Ross said. “No one was injured in the incident,” he added, though he described it as uncomfortable.

“One passenger was hanging upside down. The other two managed to wedge themselves into the bow end cap,” Mr. Ross said, adding that he did not know if a safety assessment of the Titan or an inspection of its hull was performed after the incident.

An investigatory panel has listened to three days of testimony that raised questions about the company’s operations before the doomed mission. Mr. Rush was among five people who died when the submersible imploded en route to the site of the Titanic wreck in June 2023.

Earlier Thursday (September 19, 2024), Renata Rojas, a mission specialist for the company, told the Coast Guard the firm was staffed by competent people who wanted to “make dreams come true.” Ms. Rojas’ testimony struck a different tone than some of the earlier witnesses, who described the company as troubled from the top down and focused more on profit than science or safety.

“I was learning a lot and working with amazing people,” Ms. Rojas said. “Some of those people are very hardworking individuals that were just trying to make dreams come true.”

Ms. Rojas also said she felt the company was sufficiently transparent during the run-up to the Titanic dive. Her testimony was emotional at times, with the Coast Guard panel proposing a brief break at one point so she could collect herself.

Ms. Rojas is a member of the Explorers Club, which lost members Hamish Harding and Paul-Henri Nargeolet in the Titan implosion. The club described Mr. Rush as “a friend of The Explorers Club” after the implosion.

“I knew what I was doing was very risky. I never at any point felt unsafe by the operation,” Ms. Rojas said in testimony Thursday (September 19, 2024).

Earlier this month, the Coast Guard opened a public hearing that is part of a high-level investigation into the cause of the implosion. The public hearing began September 16 and some of the testimony has focused on problems the company had prior to the fatal 2023 dive.

Investigators also released underwater footage of the submersible wreck. The footage shows the submersible’s tail cone and other debris on the ocean floor.

During the hearing, former OceanGate operations director David Lochridge said Tuesday (September 17, 2024) he frequently clashed with Mr. Rush and felt the company was committed only to making money.

“The whole idea behind the company was to make money,” Mr. Lochridge testified. “There was very little in the way of science.”

The hearing is expected to run through Friday (September 20, 2024) with more witnesses still to come and resume next week.

Mr. Lochridge and other witnesses have painted a picture of a company led by people who were impatient to get the unconventionally designed craft into the water. The deadly accident set off a worldwide debate about the future of private undersea exploration.

Coast Guard officials noted at the start of the hearing that the submersible had not been independently reviewed, as is standard practice. That and Titan’s unusual design subjected it to scrutiny in the undersea exploration community.

OceanGate, based in Washington state, suspended its operations after the implosion. The company has no full-time employees currently but has been represented by an attorney during the hearing.

During the submersible’s final dive on June 18, 2023, the crew lost contact after an exchange of texts about the Titan’s depth and weight as it descended. The support ship Polar Prince then sent repeated messages asking if the Titan could still see the ship on its onboard display.

One of the last messages from Titan’s crew to Polar Prince before the submersible imploded stated, “all good here,” according to a visual recreation presented earlier in the hearing.

When the submersible was reported missing, rescuers rushed ships, planes and other equipment to an area of about 700 km (435 miles) south of St. John’s, Newfoundland. Four days later, wreckage of the Titan was found on the ocean floor about 330 yards (300 meters) off the bow of the Titanic, Coast Guard officials said.

No one on board survived. Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman were the other two people killed in the implosion.

OceanGate said it has been fully cooperating with the Coast Guard and NTSB investigations since they began. The Titan had been making voyages to the Titanic wreckage site going back to 2021.

Published - September 20, 2024 07:30 am IST