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 on Monday 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, gave evidence that he had refused to pilot the submersible.
British adventurer Hamish Harding and father and son Shahzada and Suleman Dawood died alongside OceanGate chief executive Stockton Rush and Frenchman Paul-Henri Nargeolet.
Mr 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, Mr Nissen, testified on Monday that the Titan was struck by lightning during a test mission in 2018, and that might have compromised its hull.
Mr Nissen said he was sacked in 2019 when he would not let the submersible go to the Titanic, and he told Mr Rush the submersible was “not working like we thought it would”.
Mr 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 Mr 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.”
Mr Nissen added that Mr Rush could be difficult to work for and was often very concerned with costs and project schedules, among other issues. He said Mr Rush would fight for what he wanted, which often changed day to day. He added that he tried to keep his clashes with Mr 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.”
Mr 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 included OceanGate’s former engineering director, Tony Nissen; the company’s former finance and human resources director, Bonnie Carl; and former contractor Tym Catterson.
Ms Carl gave evidence on Monday that she was aware of safety concerns about the Titan, and that the company’s operations director, David Lochridge, had characterised it as “unsafe”.
Mr Lochridge is scheduled to give evidence on Tuesday. Mr Catterson, a contractor who worked with the company, told the marine board on Monday that “training and operations at sea could have been better”.
Some key OceanGate representatives are not scheduled to testify. They include Mr 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 Melissa Leake, a spokesperson for the coast guard.
She added that it is common for a Marine Board of Investigation to “hold multiple hearing sessions or conduct additional witness depositions for complex cases”.
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, Ms Leake 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 made its final dive on June 18, 2023, losing contact with its support vessel about two hours later. When it was reported overdue, rescuers rushed ships, planes and other equipment to an area about 435 miles (700km) south of St John’s, Newfoundland.
The search for the submersible attracted worldwide attention, as it became increasingly unlikely that anyone could have survived the implosion. Wreckage of the Titan was subsequently found on the ocean floor about 300 metres off the bow of the Titanic, coast guard officials said.
The time frame for the investigation was initially a year, but the inquiry has taken longer. The coast guard said in July that the hearing would delve into “all aspects of the loss of the Titan”, including both mechanical considerations as well as compliance with regulations and crewmember qualifications.
The Titan had been making voyages to the Titanic wreckage site going back to 2021.
