Two weeks of testimony suggested that the company responsible for an experimental deep-water submersible that imploded, killing five people, either recklessly ignored warning signs in the name of profits or embodied the nation’s explorer spirit by taking calculated risks to push humankind’s limits.
Those opposing viewpoints emerged as the Coast Guard panel tasked with determining why the carbon-fiber Titan went down 12,500 feet (3,810 meters) deep wrapped up testimony on Friday, with new information that could have changed how rescuers responded and more discussion of the company co-founder’s cavalier attitude.
Titan Implosion Testimony Paints A Picture Of Reckless Greed And Explorer Passion
Capt. Jamie Frederick, commander of the Coast Guard sector located in Boston, looked shocked to learn that the crew of Titan’s support vessel felt a tiny shudder when the submersible exploded on its approach to the Titanic debris last year.
Frederick called it “unconscionable that they wouldn’t share that,” which could have influenced the rescue reaction. “It certainly would’ve changed the equation,” he said.
Also on Friday, an OceanGate employee testified that he resigned after a “tense” conversation in which co-founder Stockton Rush told him the vessel would be flagged in the Bahamas and launched from Canada to avoid U.S. scrutiny — and arrogantly dismissed U.S. regulatory concerns if it arrived at a U.S. port.
The worker, Matthew McCoy, claimed Rush told him: “If the Coast Guard became a problem, he would buy himself a congressman and make it go away.”
The public hearing concluded in the afternoon with condolences from OceanGate’s lawyer, a representative from the National Transportation Safety Board, and Marine Board of Investigation Chair Jason Neubauer, who asked everyone in attendance to stand for a moment of silence for “those who perished” in the tragedy.
According to Neubauer, the group will conclude its work and make suggestions to Coast Guard leadership “to help ensure that nobody has to endure a future similar occurrence.”
He stated that his recommendations to the commander would include both safety proposals and any criminal conduct. If the panel feels there was criminal conduct, the referral will be handled separately.
“My priority is to get this issue done expeditiously because I feel that there are global issues at stake,” Neubauer said to the audience.
Previous testimony created contrasting pictures of avarice and arrogance, with well-heeled clients paying to ride in a carbon fiber submersible — a material that had never been tested at such depths — and modern-day explorers taking calculated risks to make the ocean’s deepest depths accessible to more people.
Guillermo Sohnlein, who co-founded OceanGate with Rush, described the lofty goal as “to give humanity greater access to the ocean, specifically the deep ocean.” According to Rush, using carbon fiber for the pressure hull was not a unique idea, and he was the first human to test the design.
However, former operations director David Lochridge claimed that the corporation was solely focused on profit.
“The whole idea behind the company was to make money,” he told the jury. “There was very little in the way of science.”
Witnesses couldn’t even agree on how to address the wealthy patrons who spent $250,000 for the experience. Some claimed they were simply passengers, despite OceanGate referring to them as “mission specialists” who were assigned assignments.
Rush and four others were killed in the implosion, including Paul-Henri Nargeolet, the director of underwater research for RMS Titanic, which had the legal right to salvage the ship’s debris. Nargeolet’s family is suing for more than $50 million, accusing the submarine operator of gross negligence.
Much of the discussion focused on Titan’s carbon-fiber pressure shell. Roy Thomas, senior principal engineer at the American Bureau of Shipping, testified that while carbon fiber is sturdy and lightweight, it is difficult to manufacture. Carbon fiber is also “susceptible to fatigue failure” under repeated pressurization, and saltwater can weaken the material in a variety of ways, he added.
At the opening of the hearing, held in South Carolina, Coast Guard authorities stated that the submersible had not been independently evaluated, as is customary procedure.
Witnesses claimed they had heard tremendous breaking sounds in previous descents. Scientific director Steven Ross stated that on a dive just a few days before the Titan exploded, the ship became unstable due to a ballast issue, forcing passengers to tumble and crash against a bulkhead.
During its last dive on June 18, 2023, the crew lost touch after exchanging texts as it fell. One of Titan’s crew’s final signals to the Polar Prince support ship before the submersible collapsed said, “All good here.” Meanwhile, the crew of the Polar Prince became increasingly apprehensive.
Ships, planes, and other equipment gathered for a rescue mission approximately 435 miles (700 km) south of St. John’s, Newfoundland. The Titanic’s wreckage was later discovered on the ocean floor about 330 yards (300 meters) off the bow, according to Coast Guard officers.
Titan Implosion Testimony Paints A Picture Of Reckless Greed And Explorer Passion
Frederick testified on Friday about the huge effort to gather specialists and resources, pointing out that OceanGate had no emergency backup plan. “We brought a team together, came up with a plan,” he told me.
After receiving reports of noises from the ocean floor, the Coast Guard-led team assumed there might be survivors until several days after contact was lost with the Titan, when the Navy said its analysis was “100% certain” that the underwater sounds were not human-made, according to Frederick.
“As soon as we received that information, I shared it with the families before we released it to the media,” said Frederick, who personally handled the family notification process.
According to Frederick, three C-17 military transport aircraft flew the submersible and associated equipment to Canada’s Newfoundland, where they were transferred to a ship and transported to the spot. Once there, Pelagic Research Services’ remote-controlled submersible “Odysseus” immediately discovered the Titan’s debris field, he said.
SOURCE | AP
