Titan submersible’s scientific director says the submarine malfunctioned just prior to the Titanic dive

OceanGate submersible implodes en route to Titanic site, raising questions about company operations and safety practices.

The scientific director for the company that owned the Titan submersible that imploded last year while on its way to the Titanic wreckage testified Thursday (September 19, 2024) that the sub had malfunctioned just before the fatal dive.

Appearing before a U.S. Coast Guard panel, Steven Ross told the board about a platform issue the experimental submersible experienced in June 2023, just days before it imploded on its way to the Titanic site. The malfunction caused passengers onboard the submersible to “tumble about,” and it took an hour to get them out of the water.

“The submersible pilot, OceanGate co-founder Stockton Rush, crashed into bulkheading during the malfunction,” Mr. Ross said. “No one was injured in the incident,” he added, though he described it as uncomfortable.

“One passenger was hanging upside down. The other two managed to wedge themselves into the bow end cap,” Mr. Ross said, adding that he did not know if a safety assessment of the Titan or an inspection of its hull was performed after the incident.

An investigatory panel has listened to three days of testimony that raised questions about the company’s operations before the doomed mission. Mr. Rush was among five people who died when the submersible imploded en route to the site of the Titanic wreck in June 2023.

Earlier Thursday (September 19, 2024), Renata Rojas, a mission specialist for the company, told the Coast Guard the firm was staffed by competent people who wanted to “make dreams come true.” Ms. Rojas’ testimony struck a different tone than some of the earlier witnesses, who described the company as troubled from the top down and focused more on profit than science or safety.

“I was learning a lot and working with amazing people,” Ms. Rojas said. “Some of those people are very hardworking individuals that were just trying to make dreams come true.”