Former OceanGate employee set to testify before Coast Guard about Titan explosion
U.S. Coast Guard officials are investigating the explosion of an experimental watercraft en route to the wreck of the Titanic that was scheduled for Monday. to hear from former employees of the company that owns the Titan submarine.
The purpose of the two-week hearing in Charleston County, South Carolina, is to “clarify the facts surrounding the incident and make 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.
The Titan exploded in the North Atlantic in June 2023, killing all five people on board and sparking a worldwide debate about the future of private underwater exploration.
Among those killed was Stockton Rush, co-founder of OceanGate, the Washington state company that owns Titan. operations suspended Witnesses scheduled to testify Monday include OceanGate’s former chief technical officer, Tony Nissen; the company’s former chief financial officer, Bonnie Carl; and former contractor Tym Catterson.
Several key OceanGate representatives were not scheduled to testify. Among them was Rush’s widow, Wendy Rush, the company’s director of communications.
Melissa Leake, a Coast Guard spokeswoman, said the Coast Guard does not comment on why specific individuals are not called to specific hearings during an ongoing investigation. She added that it is common for the Marine Board of Inquiry to “hold multiple hearings or conduct additional witness testimony in complex cases.”
According to a list compiled by the Coast Guard, those scheduled to appear later in the hearing are OceanGate co-founder Guillermo Sohnlein; former CEO David Lochridge; and former chief science officer Steven Ross. Several law enforcement officials, scientists, and government and industry officials are also expected to testify. The Coast Guard has subpoenaed witnesses who are not government employees, Leake said.
OceanGate currently has no full-time employees but will be represented by an attorney at the hearing, the company said in a statement. The company has cooperated fully with the Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board since they began their investigation, the statement said.
“No words can ease the pain felt by the families affected by this devastating incident, but we hope that this hearing will help shed light on the causes of the tragedy,” the statement added.
Titan has been the subject of scrutiny in the underwater exploration community in part because of its unconventional design and its creators’ decision to forgo standard independent testing. The explosion that killed Rush and veteran Titanic explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet; two members of a prominent Pakistani family, Shahzada Dawood and her 19-year-old son Suleman Dawood; and British explorer Hamish Harding.
Titan made its final dive on June 18, 2023, losing contact with its support vessel about two hours later. Reportedly overdue, Rescuers rushed boats, planes and other equipment. to an area approximately 435 miles (700 km) south of St. John’s, Newfoundland.
The search for the submarine has drawn worldwide attention as it becomes increasingly unlikely that anyone could have survived the explosion. Coast Guard officials said the wreckage of the Titan was later found on the ocean floor, about 300 metres (330 yards) off the bow of the Titanic.
The initial time frame for the investigation was a year, but the investigation has taken longer. The Coast Guard said in July that the hearing would delve into “every aspect of the Titan’s loss,” including mechanical considerations as well as compliance with regulations and crew qualifications.
The Titan has been making its way to the Titanic wreck site since 2021.
