The US Coast Guard’s OceanGate hearings have shed new light on the company’s troubles leading up to the fateful implosion of the Titan submersible. After four days of testimony from 10 witnesses and dozens of exhibits, a flood of information has been made public about the doomed vessel’s design and operation.
OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, who died piloting the Titan, has been portrayed as a complex figure with a history of making critical decisions based on speed and cost. Former director of engineering Tony Nissen testified that Rush would change his mind on a daily basis and was fired by Rush for insisting on scrapping the Titan’s first carbon fiber hull on safety grounds. David Lochridge, a former director of marine operations, also testified that Rush had made piloting errors and was prone to bullying.
The hearings have also revealed red flags in the design and development of the Titan. The submersible’s unusual design skirted accepted construction practices, and the company tested only one scale model of the innovative carbon fiber hull. Despite the model failing under high pressures, OceanGate proceeded to build a full-scale hull. The company also relied on an unproven acoustic monitoring system to provide an early warning of failure, rather than scanning the first hull for defects or specifying a finite lifetime of dives.
Key Unanswered Questions
The hearings have raised several key unanswered questions, including why the submersible suddenly failed on a sightseeing trip to the Titanic in June 2023, and who might shoulder the blame for the deaths of its five crew members. As the hearings enter their second and final week, these questions remain to be answered.