Coast Guard says Titan submersible deaths were preventable : NPR
A motionless photo of a video recording shows the Oceangate Titan submersible at the bottom of the ocean after an implosion in 2023. Five people died in the accident.
Image provided by the American Coast Guard
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Image provided by the American Coast Guard
Charleston, SC – Two years after the passengers hoping for an overview of the titanic wreckage lost their lives in the submersible implosion of the Titan off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, the Coast Guard has published a scathing report on Tuesday, saying that the tragedy should never have happened.
“This marine victim and the loss of five lives were avoidable,” said the investigation of the board of directors of Titan Marine, Jason Neubauer, in a statement. “The two -year investigation has identified several contributory factors that led to this tragedy.”
Among these factors, a 300 -page report concludes that the man who designed and managed the submersible Titan, the CEO of Oceangate Stockton Rush, ignored security warnings, judicial regulations and negligence has shown negligence.
Investigators say Rush would probably have faced criminal charges if he had survived. He and four passengers were killed in implosion.
The Coast Guard report also cites the inadequate design of the submersible. For example, his shell was made of cheaper carbon fiber instead of a more commonly used steel alloy.
Investigators also found a lack of certification, maintenance and inspections for Titan, as well as a toxic work culture. A spokesperson for Oceangate, a company based in Washington, confirmed on Tuesday that it had since “decreasing operations” and cooperated in the investigation.
The Titan Marine Board listens to the testimonies of Amber Bay, former director of the Oceangate administration at the Titan Marine Board of Investigation Audience on September 24, 2024, in Charleston, SCA
Corey Connor / Pool AP
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Corey Connor / Pool AP
The results of the Coast Guard reflect what the former Oceangate employees testified last summer at a two -week public hearing in Charleston, SC, they told investigators that the company has regularly made profits on security and criticisms in silence.
Former Oceangate engineer David Lochridge said that he had warned Stockton a decade ago that Titan was not safe. He testified that it was “something inevitable was going to happen, and it was just when”.
Lochridge also told investigators that he had been dismissed after expressed his concerns in Stockton.
Another witness, the former scientific director of Oceangate, Steven Ross, recalled a dive on Titan a few days before his last trip. He testified that there had been a problem with his balancing system and the submersible slammed the passengers at the back of the ship as he resurfaces.
He said that he “had ended up standing on the rear partition” while another passenger was left “suspended upside down”.
There have also been testimonies from several witnesses on the “crackling sounds” heard inside the Titan hull for several dives. But shipments continued with a cost of $ 250,000 per person.
On June 18, 2023, the world watched the crews are looking for Titan after losing contact with his mother ship, in the hope of finding survivors. Instead, the rescuers discovered the wreckage, the Titan tail cone sitting standing at the bottom of the ocean, near the Titanic. Human remains were then recovered.
The four passengers killed were the French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, the British adventurer Hamish Harding and two members of an eminent Pakistani family, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood.
As part of its report, the Coast Guard has offered security recommendations to strengthen surveillance of the submersible industry. His conclusions will be examined by the Coast Guard commander who then decides what actions should be continued.
