The US Coast Guard detailed more than 100 issues that took place in the years leading up to the Titan submersible’s implosion that killed five people last year — as officials revealed that among the last messages from the vessel was the chilling communication, “All good.”
During Monday’s public hearing over the OceanGate wreck, investigators revealed that Titan suffered dozens of problems during previous trips, including 70 equipment issues in 2021 and 48 issues in 2022, the New York Times reports.
Tony Nissen, OceanGate’s former engineering director, claimed that whenever he or other staffers would bring up the issues with CEO Stockton Rush, who was among those killed in the implosion, the chief would brush their concerns aside after heated arguments.
“Most people would eventually back down from Stockton,” Nissen told investigators.
“Stockton would fight for what he wanted and wouldn’t give an inch much at all,” he added.
Nissen revealed that when he was first hired by Stockton in 2016, he was not aware he was being tasked with developing a submersible to reach the depths of the Titanic, adding that there were only about ten people working in OceanGate at the time.
The engineer added that during one test mission in 2018, the Titan was hit by a lightning bolt that likely compromised the hull.
After taking apart the craft and warning Stockton about the issue, the CEO allegedly told him, “It would be okay” — meaning the hull was not included in the repairs at the time, Nissen said.
The engineer said he was eventually fired in June 2019 because he refused to sign off on a July 2019 expedition, telling Stockton that the hull must not be used.
Investigators also revealed that during the winter before the 2023 Titanic voyage, the submersible had been stored without protection in a freezing facility in Newfoundland.
Less than four weeks before the ill-fated trip, the submersible was also found “partially sunk” during a test run.
The revelations are the first in a series of interviews with 10 former OceanGate employees and 14 other witnesses set to testify before the Coast Guard over the Titan implosion that made headlines last year.
The hearing aims to “uncover the facts surrounding the incident and develop recommendations to prevent similar tragedies in the future,” the Coast Guard said in a statement.
The hearing will likely focus on the scrutiny levied against Stockton and OceanGate, which have been accused of skirting safety regulations and concerns from industry leaders while developing the Titan sub for deep sea trips to the Titan wreck.
Along with Stockton, the implosion killed British adventurer Hamish Harding, French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, and Pakistani father and son Shahzada and Suleman Dawood.
OceanGates former finance director Bonnie Carl and former contractor Tym Catterson are also expected to testify on Monday.
