US – The US Coast Guard will begin a multi-day hearing to examine the loss of the Titan the ill-fated submersible authorities said imploded in the North Atlantic Ocean in June 2023, killing all five people aboard during a dive to the wreckage of the Titanic. The public hearing will be conducted by the Marine Board of Investigation that was convened within days of the submersible’s disappearance.
The MBI the highest level of inquiry by the Coast Guard was tasked with reviewing the cause of the tragedy and offering recommendations, including about potential civil penalties and criminal prosecution. “The upcoming hearings will allow us to present our findings and hear directly from key witnesses and subject matter experts in a transparent forum,” said Neubauer, adding the proceedings “are a critical step in our mission to understand the contributing factors that led to the incident and, even more importantly, the actions needed to prevent a similar occurrence.
The submersible lost contact with its mother ship about an hour and 45 minutes into its dive to the Titanic on June 18, 2023. When it failed to resurface, an international search and rescue mission unfolded in the remote waters several hundred miles southeast of Newfoundland, Canada. Ultimately, authorities concluded the vessel had suffered a “catastrophic implosion a sudden inward collapse caused by immense pressure. Debris from the submersible was found on the sea floor several hundred yards from the Titanic, and authorities recovered “presumed human remains” believed to belong to the victims.
Stockton Rush, the founder and CEO of the vessel’s operator; businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son, Suleman Dawood; businessman Hamish Harding; and French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet were also killed. The Coast Guard previously said the hearing would include “pre-accident historical events, regulatory compliance, crewmember duties and qualifications, mechanical and structural systems, emergency response and the submersible industry. A list of witnesses includes a slate of one-time employees of OceanGate Expeditions, the Everett, Washington-based company that operated the 23,000-pound vessel, charging about $250,000 per ticket. The company has faced questions about its operations amid reports of safety concerns The MBI is made up of numerous Coast Guard officials and at least two from the National Transportation Safety Board, according to a list provided by the Coast Guard (CNN)…[+]