SOME OF THE last words heard from the crew of an experimental submersible heading for the wreck of the Titanic were “all good”, according to a visual recreation of the journey of the Titan before it imploded, killing all five on board.
The US coast guard presented the animation today on the first day of what is expected to be a two-week hearing on the causes of the implosion.
Later, the hearing’s first witness, OceanGate Expeditions’ former engineering director Tony Nissen, testified that he had refused to pilot the submersible and was later sacked.
British adventurer Hamish Harding and father and son Shahzada and Suleman Dawood died alongside OceanGate chief executive Stockton Rush and Frenchman Paul-Henri Nargeolet.
Dawood was a London-based businessman and adviser to the King’s charity Prince’s Trust International, with a focus on its work in Pakistan. His 19-year-old son was a student at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow.
The crew aboard the Titan were communicating with support staff aboard the Polar Prince by text messages, according to the presentation.
The crew lost contact after an exchange of repeated inquiries from the Polar Prince about the submersible’s depth and weight as it descended.
The Polar Prince then sent repeated messages asking if the Titan could still see the ship on its onboard display. One of Titan’s final responses, which became spotty as it descended, was “all good here”.
Coast guard officials also gave an overview of the history of the Titan, during which they stated that the hull of the craft was never subject to third-party checks.
Officials also said the sub was left exposed to weather and elements while in storage for seven months in 2022 and 2023.
The Titan imploded in June 2023, setting off a worldwide debate about the future of private undersea exploration.
The aim of the hearing in Charleston County, South Carolina, is to “uncover the facts surrounding the incident and develop recommendations to prevent similar tragedies in the future”, the coast guard said in a statement earlier this month.
The hearing’s first witness, Nissen, testified on Monday that the Titan was struck by lightning during a test mission in 2018, and that might have compromised its hull.
Nissen said he was sacked in 2019 when he would not let the submersible go to the Titanic, and he told Rush the submersible was “not working like we thought it would”.
Nissen said the submersible later went through other tests and adjustments before its subsequent dives to the Titanic. However, he testified that he was asked to pilot the submersible and replied: “I’m not getting in it.”
He said he felt rushed to start operations during his time with the company. When asked if there was pressure to get the Titan into the water, he responded: “One hundred per cent.”
The marine board also asked Nissen if he felt that the pressure compromised safety decisions and testing. After a long pause, he responded: “No … That’s a difficult question to answer, because given infinite time and infinite budget, you could do infinite testing.”
Nissen added that Rush could be difficult to work for and was often very concerned with costs and project schedules, among other issues. He said Rush would fight for what he wanted, which often changed day to day.
Nissen said that he tried to keep his clashes with Rush behind closed doors so that others in the company would not be aware.
“Most people would eventually just back down to Stockton,” he said.
The ongoing Marine Board of Investigation is the highest level of marine casualty investigation conducted by the coast guard. When the hearing concludes, recommendations will be submitted to the coast guard’s commandant.
“There are no words to ease the loss endured by the families impacted by this tragic incident,” said Jason Neubauer of the Coast Guard Office of Investigations, who led the hearing.
“But we hope that this hearing will help shed light on the cause of the tragedy and prevent anything like this from happening again.”
Rush was co-founder of OceanGate, the Washington state company that owned the Titan. The company suspended operations after the implosion.
Witnesses scheduled to testify on Monday include OceanGate’s former engineering director, Tony Nissen; the company’s former finance director, Bonnie Carl; and former contractor Tym Catterson.
Some key OceanGate representatives are not scheduled to testify. They include Rush’s widow, Wendy Rush, who was the company’s communications director.
The coast guard does not comment on the reasons for not calling specific individuals to a particular hearing during ongoing investigations, said a spokesperson for the coast guard.
Scheduled to appear later in the hearing are OceanGate co-founder Guillermo Sohnlein; former operations director, David Lochridge; and former scientific director, Steven Ross, according to a list compiled by the coast guard.
Numerous guard officials, scientists, and government and industry officials are also expected to testify. The US coast guard subpoenaed witnesses who were not government employees, the coast guard said.
OceanGate has no full-time employees at this time but will be represented by a lawyer during the hearing, the company said in a statement.
The company has been fully co-operating with the coast guard and National Transportation Safety Board investigations since they began, the statement said.
“There are no words to ease the loss endured by the families impacted by this devastating incident, but we hope that this hearing will help shed light on the cause of the tragedy,” the statement added.
The Titan became the subject of scrutiny in the undersea exploration community in part because of its unconventional design and its creator’s decision to forgo standard independent checks.
The Titan, which had been making voyages to the Titanic wreckage site going back to 2021, made its final dive on June 18, 2023, losing contact with its support vessel about two hours later.
Wreckage of the Titan was subsequently found on the ocean floor about 300 metres off the bow of the Titanic, coast guard officials said.
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