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.
Funds ‘immediately’ went toward operations: witness testifies
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.
Kelly Rissman16 September 2024 19:08
Bonnie Carl takes the stand
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.
Kelly Rissman16 September 2024 18:58
WATCH: Titan crew’s final three-word text revealed in haunting animation of submersible’s journey
Kelly Rissman16 September 2024 18:55
Nissen’s testimony concludes
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.
Kelly Rissman16 September 2024 17:55
Nissen discusses the ‘pressure’ felt to jumpstart operations
When asked if there was “pressure” to start operations, Nissen said: “100 percent.”
Kelly Rissman16 September 2024 17:48
‘All good here’: Animation reveals haunting final text from crew
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.
Kelly Rissman16 September 2024 16:56
Nissen wouldn’t sign off on test due to damaged hull, he testified
“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.”
Kelly Rissman16 September 2024 16:38
‘The maddest I’ve seen Stockton’
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.
Kelly Rissman16 September 2024 16:31
WATCH: Resurfaced OceanGate video shows Titan prototype leaking water
Kelly Rissman16 September 2024 16:20