Probe finds faulty engineering, lack of adequate testing caused implosion of Titan submersible

Unaware of true durability

It also stated that OceanGate, the owner of the Titan, failed to adequately test the Titan and was unaware of its true durability, which was much lower than its target.

“(OceanGate) failed to establish the actual strength and durability of the Titan pressure vessel and resulted in the company operating a carbon fiber composite vessel that sustained delamination damage that was subsequently exacerbated by additional damage of unknown origin, resulting in a damaged internal structure that subsequently led to a local buckling failure of the pressure vessel,” the report said.

Previous damage went unnoticed

It further noted that the Titan sustained damage from a previous dive in July 2022, weakening its pressure vessel, which was responsible for maintaining the atmospheric air pressure for human occupants.

Damage to the 22-foot vessel made of carbon fiber went unnoticed, and the Titan submersible did three more dives on that year’s expedition.

The company was aware of the possibility of Coast Guard regulations prior to the implosion. In describing OceanGate’s corporate culture, the report quotes an operations technician who quit the company after expressing concern about calling paying passengers “mission specialists.” The company’s CEO responded that “if the Coast Guard became a problem … he would buy himself a congressman and make it go away,” the technician said, according to the report.

Titan submersible implosion

The submersible imploded on June 18, 2023, killing five people, including OceanGate founder and CEO Stockton Rush, British billionaire Hamish Harding, French maritime expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son, Suleman Dawood.

The Titan submersible implosion led to one of the most expensive and extensive multinational marine search operations in history. The wreckage of the Titan submersible was found four days later, on June 22.

The NTSB report also said the wreckage of the Titan likely would have been found sooner had OceanGate followed standard guidance for emergency response, and that would have saved “time and resources even though a rescue was not possible in this case.”

NTSB’s recommendations

The NTSB report recommends the Coast Guard commission a panel of experts to study submersibles and other pressure vehicles for human occupancy. It also recommends that the Coast Guard implement regulations for the vehicles that are informed by that study. The report states that current regulations for small passenger vessels “enabled OceanGate’s operation of the Titan in an unsafe manner.”

The report also called on the Coast Guard to “disseminate findings of the study to the industry,” which has grown in recent years as privately financed exploration has grown.