The occupants of the OceanGate Titan submersible before its disappearance experienced faulty communications with the crew above the surface of the Atlantic Ocean, and one of their last words transmitted to the world above was: “all good here.”
Nearly 15 months after British billionaire Hamish Harding, OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, father-son duo Shahzada Dawood and Suleman Dawood, and French sailor Paul-Henry Nargeolet were killed when the OceanGate Titan submersible imploded on its way to the bottom of the Titanic Sea, the U.S. Coast Guard has provided information about those final moments at the start of a multi-day hearing into the inquiry.
The U.S. Coast Guard unveiled the animation Monday on the first day of what is expected to be a two-week hearing into the causes of the implosion.
The five people aboard the Titan communicated via text messages with the crew aboard the Polar Prince, a support ship transporting the submersible to the location of the ill-fated Titanic.
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An image of Titan's tail cone on the ocean floor, as seen in June 2023. (US Coast Guard/Pelagic Research Services)
The Polar Prince set sail on June 16, 2023, at approximately 9 a.m. local time from St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada. With the Titan on board, the two vessels arrived at the Titanic's location on the morning of June 18.
The submersible began its descent toward the Titanic shortly before 9:20 a.m. that morning, with the occupants of both vessels communicating via text messages.
At 9:53 a.m., Polar Prince asked the Titan crew if they could see Polar Prince on their display inside the submersible. The Titan crew did not respond, and after 15 minutes and six more messages, the crew responded.
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The Titan submersible imploded while descending to view the Titanic, on June 18, 2023. (Coast Guard)
The Ice Prince told the Titan crew that they needed better communications.
The person who responded from the Titan identified himself as “PH,” who the Coast Guard believes was Nargeolet.
At that time, the Titan had reached a depth of about 2,275 meters with a pressure of 3,337 psi.
Nargeolet replied to the Ice Prince, “Everything's fine here,” when asked if they could see the Ice Prince on the screen.
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The Titan submersible imploded while descending to view the Titanic, on June 18, 2023. (Coast Guard)
Communications between the two ships continued, with the Polar Prince asking Titanic about the Titan's location and reminding her to note the location and time when deploying the “Niskin bottle”.
The Titan crew told the Polar Prince crew at 10:41 a.m. that they would not deploy the bottle because it was not clean.
At 10:47 am, the Titan notified the Polar Prince crew that it had dropped two pesos.
Moments later, the Titan imploded.
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This file image provided by OceanGate shows the Titan submersible descending into the ocean. (OceanGate Expeditions)
Shortly before 10:48 a.m., communications and tracking from the Polar Prince submersible were lost at a depth of 11,000 feet (3,346 meters), the Coast Guard said.
That morning's implosion sparked a global debate about the future of private underwater exploration.
The Coast Guard report showed the submersible was exposed to the elements while in storage for seven months in 2022 and 2023, adding that the hull was never inspected by a third party, as is standard procedure.
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This file image provided by OceanGate shows the Titan submersible descending into the ocean. (OceanGate Expeditions)
The submersible's unconventional design also drew scrutiny from the underwater exploration community.
The first witness to testify during Monday's hearing was former OceanGate engineering director Tony Nissen, who said he felt pressured to start operations while working for the company. Nissen was asked if there was pressure to get the Titan into the water, and he replied, “100%.”
The Navy board also asked the former engineering director if the pressure compromised safety decisions and testing. After a long pause, Nissen said: “No… That's a difficult question to answer, because with infinite time and infinite budget, you could do infinite testing.”
In 2018, Nissen testified, the Titan was struck by lightning during a test mission, which may have damaged the hull. Nissen said he was fired in 2019, the same year he refused to let the Titan go to Titanic. He told Rush that the Titan “was not performing the way we thought it would.”
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FILE PHOTO: The port bow railing of the Titanic lies at 3,900 metres (13,000 feet) of water about 640 kilometres (400 miles) east of Nova Scotia, as photographed earlier this month as part of a joint scientific and recovery expedition sponsored by Discovery Channel and RMS Titantic. Scientists plan to illuminate and then raise the section of the legendary ocean liner's hull later this month. (Reuters/File Photo/File Photo)
The submersible would later undergo additional testing and adjustments before making subsequent dives on the Titanic, Nissen testified. However, he told the panel on Monday that he did not trust the operations staff and testified that when Rush asked him to pilot the submersible, he said, “I'm not going to get in.”
Nissen said Rush could be difficult to work with and was often very concerned about project costs and schedules. Nissen also said Rush fought for what he wanted, which often changed on a daily basis.
“Most people would end up going to Stockton,” he said.
The ongoing Marine Board of Inquiry is the highest level of marine accident investigation conducted by the Coast Guard. Once completed, recommendations will be forwarded to the Coast Guard commandant. The National Transportation Safety Board is also conducting an investigation.
“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's Office of Investigations, who chaired the hearing. “But we hope this hearing will help shed light on the cause of the tragedy and prevent something like this from happening again.”
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Stockton Rush, executive director of OceanGate exhibitions, poses in Times Square in New York, April 12, 2017. (Reuters/Shannon Stapleton)
Also scheduled to speak were the company's former chief financial officer, Bonnie Carl, and former contractor Tym Catterson.
After the Titan lost contact with its support ship two hours into its final descent, a massive search and rescue operation ensued, involving rescue ships, aircraft and other equipment. The search took place about 435 miles south of St. John's, Newfoundland.
The search for the submersible attracted worldwide attention as it became increasingly unlikely that anyone could have survived the implosion. The wreckage of the Titan was later found on the ocean floor about 1,000 feet (300 meters) off the Titanic's bow, Coast Guard officials said.
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The initial timeline for the investigation was a year, but the investigation has taken longer. The Coast Guard said in July that the hearing would delve into “all aspects of the Titan's loss,” including both mechanical considerations and compliance with regulations and crew qualifications.
The Titan had been making trips to the Titanic wreck site since 2021.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
