“Everything is fine here,” were the last words heard from the crew of an experimental submersible headed toward the Titanic's wreck, according to a visual reconstruction of the Titanic's voyage before it crashed, killing all five people on board.
The US Coast Guard presented this animation on Monday, the first day of a two-week-long hearing into the causes of the explosion. Crew aboard Titan According to the presentation, they were communicating via text messages with staff on the sister ship, the Polar Prince.
Contact with the crew was lostAfter exchanging messages about the submarine's depth and weight as it descended, the Polar Prince sent messages again asking if the Titan could still see the ship on its onboard display. One of the Titan's last responses, which faded away as it descended, was “Everything is fine here.”
On June 18, 2023, the Titan ship crashes, sparking a worldwide debate about the future of private ocean exploration.
Coast Guard representatives said in their initial remarks Monday that the Titan was left exposed to the elements during storage for seven months in 2022 and 2023. They said the hull was never reviewed by a third party, as is standard procedure. That, and the submarine's unconventional design Titan examined in the undersea exploration community.
The Marine Investigation Board investigation currently underway is the highest level of marine accident investigation conducted by the Coast Guard. When the hearings are concluded, recommendations will be submitted to the Commandant of the Coast Guard. The National Transportation Safety Board is also investigating.
“There are no words to ease the loss that the families affected by this tragic incident have suffered,” said Jason Neubauer of the Coast Guard Investigations Office, who led the hearing. “But we hope that this hearing will help shed light on the causes of the tragedy and prevent an incident like this from happening again.”
Those killed included Stockton RushCo-founder of OceanGate, the Washington state company that owned Titan. The company suspended operations after the explosion.
The hearing's first witness, Tony Nissen, OceanGate's former engineering director, testified Monday that Titan was struck by lightning during a test mission in 2018, and that this may have damaged its hull. Nissen said he was fired in 2019 when he did not let the submersible dock to Titanic, and he told Rush that the submersible “was not working as well as we thought it would.”
Nissen said the submarine had to undergo other tests and adjustments before diving to the Titanic. However, he testified that he was asked to steer the submarine and he replied: “I'm not going in it.”
Nissen said Rush could be difficult to work with and was often very concerned about costs and project schedules, as well as other issues. He said Rush fought for what he wanted, which often changed from day to day. He said he tried to keep his confrontations with Rush behind closed doors so that others in the company did not know.
“Most people will eventually head back to Stockton,” he said.
The company's former finance director Bonnie Carl and former contractor Tim Catterson were also scheduled to speak.
Mike Smith/AP
Some key OceanGate representatives do not plan to testify. They include Rush's widow, Wendy Rush, who was the company's communications director.
Coast Guard spokeswoman Melissa Leake said the Coast Guard does not comment on reasons for not calling a specific individual to a particular hearing during an ongoing investigation. She said it is common for the Marine Board of Investigation “to hold multiple hearing sessions or conduct additional witness statements for complex cases.”
Those scheduled to appear later in the hearing include OceanGate co-founder Guillermo Sohlen, former operations director David Lochridge and former scientific director Steven Ross, according to a list compiled by the Coast Guard. Several Guard officials, scientists and government and industry officials are also expected to testify. Leake said the U.S. Coast Guard called witnesses who were not government employees.
OceanGate has no full-time employees at this time but will be represented by an attorney at the hearing, the company said in a statement. The company has been fully cooperating with the Coast Guard and National Transportation Safety Board since their investigations began, the statement said.
The explosion also killed veteran Titanic explorer Paul-Henri Nargolet, two members of a prominent Pakistani family, Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman Dawood, and British adventurer Hamish Harding.
Last month, Nargeolette's family filed for $50 million in compensation Wrongful death suit According to the lawsuit, Nargeollet, known as “Mr. Titanic,” made 37 dives to the Titanic site, the most by any diver in the world.
Lawyers for his estate said in an emailed statement that the “failed submarine” has a “troubled history” and that OceanGate had not disclosed key facts about the ship and its durability.
Titan lost contact with its support ship about two hours after its final dive. When it was told it had arrived late, rescuers sent ships, aircraft and other equipment to an area about 435 miles south of St. John's, Newfoundland.
The discovery of the submarine attracted worldwide attentionBecause the probability that anyone could have survived the explosion was diminishing. Titan's debris The ship was later found on the ocean floor about 330 yards from the Titanic's bow, Coast Guard officials said.
The investigation was initially scheduled for a year, but took much longer. In July, the Coast Guard said the hearing would look closely at “all aspects of the Titan's loss,” including mechanical considerations as well as compliance with regulations and the qualifications of crew members.
The Titan ship has been traveling to the Titanic wreck site since 2021.
earlier this month, attractive new images Findings from a recent expedition to the wreck of the Titanic have revealed the decay that has occurred on the iconic ship's prow, with a large section of its railing now lying on the seabed, as well as the discovery of a bronze statue from the ship that was feared to be lost forever.
Tomasina Ray, collections director for RMS Titanic Inc., told CBS News affiliate BBC that the discovery was a “reminder of the daily deterioration” of the ship's wreck.
“People always ask: ‘How long will the Titanic be there?’ We don’t know, but we’re watching it in real time,” he said.