2 Years After Titan Submersible Implosion, Report Claims This Caused It

The implosion of OceanGate's Titan submersible, on its way to the Titanic wreck in June 2023, was caused by faulty engineering and multiple failures to test the vessel, according to an official report.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) report states that the engineering process to make the submersible was "inadequate," resulting in faults that led to failure in strength and durability requirements.

"Defective engineering resulted in the construction of a carbon fibre composite pressure vessel that contained multiple anomalies and failed to meet necessary strength and durability requirements," NTSB said.

Passengers onboard the Titan included OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, British adventurer Hamish Harding, French underwater explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, and a father-son duo from a prominent Pakistan family, Shahzada Dawood and Suleman Dawood. All five passengers, who paid $250,000 each to take part in the journey, died from the implosion.

Had OceanGate followed standard guidance for emergency responses, the Titan could have been found sooner than it was, according to the report.

The NTSB report also criticised the work culture in OceanGate, pointing out a former operations technician who had warned about potential Coast Guard regulations prior to the implosion. The technician had called out the practice of calling passengers "mission specialists."

The CEO then responded, saying that "if the Coast Guard became a problem ... he would buy himself a congressman and make it go away."

The NTSB report comes months after a Coast Guard report that said the implosion was "preventable."

The Coast Guard report also criticised the safety procedure followed by the company. 

Following the report, Jason Neubauer, with the Marine Board of Investigation had said," There is a need for stronger oversight and clear options for operators who are exploring new concepts outside of the existing regulatory framework."