Topics: News, Titan submersible, World News
Amid the investigation into what really caused the Titan submersible to implode in June 2023, a 3D simulation in support of the hearing was provided by The Marine Board.
Last year, OceanGate allowed a group passengers to board their Titan sub, promising to grant the opportunity to visit the infamous Titanic shipwreck, which sunk in the Atlantic in 1912.
The compact vessel - which had an inside space of just 22ft long and 9ft wide with a height of a little over 8ft - lost contact with its support ship and eventually imploded.
Those travelling inside the Titan - Hamish Harding, Paul-Henri Nargeolet, Shahzada Dawood, Suleman Dawood, and OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush - had embarked on a journey 435 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, when they vanished.
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All five passengers died in the implosion.
Following the deaths, an investigation has been launched in an effort to understand what truly went wrong, with a public hearing taking place this week.
The Marine Board released a 3D simulation which appears to show was happened to the doomed vessel.
Watch a clip here:
The full video can be viewed via the Titan Submersible Marine Board of Investigation.
Initial theories were that 'the vehicle exploded from within due to a vulnerability in the exterior that could not withstand the extreme pressure of the deep-sea,' as per the Daily Mail.
However, a scientist has now taken his opportunity to testify and claimed that the Titan malfunctioned on 12 June, just days before the fatal dive on 18 June.
Dr Steven Ross, former scientific director for OceanGate, took the stand to testify in front of a US Coast Guard panel yesterday (19 September).
According to Dr Ross, the malfunction caused passengers onboard the submersible to 'tumble about' and it took an hour to get them out of the water.
“One passenger was hanging upside down. The other two managed to wedge themselves into the bow end cap,” he said, before adding that no one suffered any injuries.
It was reportedly caused by an issue with the variable ballast tank, which controls the sub's buoyancy, and led to the platform inverting to 45 degrees with the back bow facing upwards.
Dr Ross added that he was unsure whether an official assessment of Titan's hull had occurred before it sailed into the Atlantic, but stressed staff were 'competent'.
A public hearing into the five deaths of the people onboard OceanGate's ill-fated Titan submersible began on Monday (16 September).
It is expected to last two weeks.
The first day of the hearing heard how the submersible was built in 2020 and was 'unregistered, non-certificated and unclassed', as well as having no identification number.
The submersible's hull was never subject to third-party checks and officials said it was left exposed to the elements while in storage for seven months in 2022 and 2023.
In 2017, the year OceanGate announced it would be conducting trips to the Titanic, employees bonded together the submersible's carbon fibre hull and titanium rings 'using an adhesive'.
During its 2023 expedition, the Titan was found 'partially sunk' in the ocean.
An image showing debris, including the Titan's tail cone, on the sea floor after the implosion was revealed.
One of Titan’s final responses was revealed to be: "All good here."
Tony Nissen, OceanGate Expeditions’ former engineering director, testified that the Titan was hit by lightning during a test mission in 2018.
Nissen, who was allegedly fired in 2019 after not letting the submersible go to the Titanic, told OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush it was 'not working like we thought it would'.
When asked to pilot the submersible, Nissen said: “I’m not getting in it.”
When asked if there was pressure to get the Titan into the water, Nissen replied: “100%.”
While Bonnie Carl, OceanGate's former human resources and finance director, said she was aware of a waiver people had to sign, she testified she 'never saw anyone sign anything'.
"When I was taking money, we hadn't even finished building the Titan," Carl claimed.
Former OceanGate contractor Tym Catterson said: "There were no red flags... it was a good day."
New, unseen footage of the doomed Titan sub has been released to the public by the US Coast Guard, with the camera panning around to see the tail cone of the sub on the ocean floor.
Former employee of OceanGate David Lochridge gave evidence on Tuesday (17 September) and revealed how he warned of potential safety problems with the vessel as far back as 2018, which he says were ignored.
Lochridge, who was fired from the company in 2018, told investigators that it was 'inevitable' something would eventually go wrong, and when asked if he had any confidence in the way Titan was being built, he stated: "No confidence whatsoever, and I was very vocal about that, and still am."
"A lot of steps along the way were missed," Lochridge added. "I knew that hull would fail. It's an absolute mess."
He also criticised the 'arrogance' within the company, along with the 'control freak' tendencies of Stockton Rush.
