Titan crew’s last text messages revealed as hearing learns of OceanGate’s long history of safety concerns

The US Coast Guard is holding a long-awaited hearing on the deadly Titanic submersible disaster on Monday as it continues its investigation into the implosion of the vessel.

The experimental Titan submersible imploded as it was heading down to the ruins of the Titanic, killing all five people on board, including OceanGate founder Stockton Rush, in June 2023.

Ten former OceanGate employees will give testimony in the hearing in North Charleston, South Carolina, which is probing whether any criminal activity led to the tragedy tragedy.

Among the last words heard from the crew of an experimental submersible headed for the wreck of the Titanic were ‘all good here,’ according to a visual re-creation of the journey of the Titan before it imploded shown in the hearing. 

A review of the Titan’s history has already shown a pattern of safety failures including multiple drop weight and batteries issues.

Nissen was fired after refusing to sign off on hull

• Tony Nissen said he was terminated after he would not sign off on the damaged hul for the 2019 Titanic expedition.
• Nissen said Rush took him to lunch and said ‘either he or I had to go’ after a meeting with board members.
• Rush allegedly added, ‘it’s not going to me.’

Stockton Rush was difficult to work with, says former employee

• Tony Nissen testified Monday that Rush could be difficult to work for and was often very concerned with costs and project schedules, among other issues.
• Nissen said Rush would fight for what he wanted, which often changed day to day.
• He said he tried to keep his clashes with Rush behind closed doors so that others in the company wouldn’t be aware.

Titan was struck by lightning in 2018

• Tony Nissen said the submersible by struck by lightning in the Bahamas in 2018.
• He said he told Stockton Rush the hull had probably been compromised.
• Nissen said that Rush replied, ‘It’ll be okay.’

How long will the OceanGate hearing last?

• The U.S. Coast Guard presented the animation Monday on the first day of what is expected to be a two-week hearing on the causes of the implosion.
• The Titan imploded on June 18, 2023, killing all five on board and setting off a worldwide debate about the future of private undersea exploration.
• The hearing is expected to resume shortly.

Pilot was fired after concerns about the titan’s carbon fibre hull

• Tony Nissen said pilot David Lochridge provided a 2018 report detailing concerns about the carbon fiver hull and was fired afterwards.
• OceanGate ended up suing Lochridge, who sued back.
• Lochridge claimed his report ‘identified numerous issues that posed serious safety concerns’ but he was ‘met with hostility and denial of access.’

Carbon fiber hull’s maker refused to change design

• Nissan said he and Stockton were worried about the carbon filler hull because the scale model showed the model imploding.
• But, according to Nissa, Brian Spencer, the manufacturer of the hull, was ‘unwilling to change’ the design.

Last words from Titan’s crew

• Among the last words heard from the crew of an experimental submersible headed for the wreck of the Titanic were ‘all good here.’
• Crew aboard the Titan were communicating with support staff aboard the Polar Prince via text messages, according to the presentation.
• The crew lost contact after an exchange of repeated inquiries from the Polar Prince about the submersible’s depth and weight as it descended.
• The Polar Prince then sent repeated messages asking if the Titan could still see the ship on its onboard display.

Stockton ‘made most engineering decisions’

• OceanGate’s former director of engineering says CEO Stockton Rush was actually the one to make most of the engineering decisions.
• ‘If it mattered enough, I’d fight for it,’ Nissan said of engineering decisions.
• ‘Stockton would fight for what he wanted and what he wanted, even if it changed from day to day, and he wouldnt give an inch much at all,’ Nissan said.
• ‘Most people would eventually back down to Stockton, it was death by a thousand cuts,’ Nissan added.

Former OceanGate employee says evidence is ‘disturbing’

• Former engineering director Tony Nissen said of the presentation shown in the hearing: ‘There are some things I saw in this presentation that are disturbing.’
• He added: ‘There’s some things that bother me professionally and personally.’

Hearing sees images of Titan wreckage

• The hearing was shown an image of Titan’s tail cone on the sea floor.
• The images were taken by a remotely operated vehicle on June 22, 2023.

First OceanGate former employee takes the stand

• Tony Nissen, former OceanGate engineering director Tony Nissen, is the first to give his testimony on Monday.
• Nissen started at the company in 2016 and said he felt like an outsider in the team and that ‘it was hard to catch up.’
• He said he was the first OceanGate employee and was never told the company was working on a mission to the Titanic wreck.

Witnesses that will speak at hearing

• Witnesses scheduled to testify on Monday include OceanGate’s former engineering director, Tony Nissen; the company’s former finance director, Bonnie Carl; and former contractor Tym Catterson.
• OceanGate co-founder Guillermo Sohnlein; former operations director, David Lochridge; and former scientific director, Steven Ross, according to a list compiled by the Coast Guard.
• Some key OceanGate representatives are not scheduled to testify. They include Rush’s widow, Wendy Rush, who was the company’s communications director.

Titan was left uncovered for months

• Following the 2022 expedition, the Titan was reportedly left uncovered in a parking lot for months
• The average temperature in the parking lot was over 100 degrees, the hearing heard

Harrowing final exchange with the Titan

• The hearing saw an animation of the Titan’s last dive, including the text exchange between the submersible and the Polar Prince, its support ship
• The Polar Prince repeatedly sent the same message to the Titan, first sent at 10.49am, saying ‘lost trackin.’
• The Polar Prince never received a reponse.

Who died in the Titan tragedy?

• On Monday the hearing held a moment of silence for those who died in the implosion of the experimental submersible, including OceanGate founder Stockton Rush and clients Shahzada and Suleman Dawood

History of issues with the Titan

• The Titan had a documented history of issues since 2017
• It was tested at 1.09x the operating pressure, but the industry standard is 1.25x
• In the 2021 expedition, there were 70 equipment issues that required correcting
• In the 2022 expedition, there were 48 issues including batteries that died, the platform was damaged during recovery, and the drop weights malfunctioned

Hearing kicks off in South Carolina

• The Coast Guard has started a public hearing about the deadly Titanic submersible disaster in June 2023
• Coast Guard officials said in a statement that the purpose of the hearing will be to ‘consider evidence related to the loss of the Titan submersible.’