Coast Guard, in Its ‘Highest Level of Investigation,’ Set To Begin Hearings Into Titan Submersible’s Implosion

More than a year after the Titan submersible imploded on its way to the Titanic, the Coast Guard is set to begin a two-week-long hearing Monday to investigate “all aspects of the loss of the Titan.” The Titan’s voyage captured international attention in June 2023 after it the submersible lost communication with its surface vessel, leaving the status of five passengers on board unknown for days as a search crew including the American and Canadian Coast Guards desperately searched for their location. The Titan, operated by a private sea exploration company called OceanGate Expeditions, departed on June 18 and lost contact about 1 hour and 45 minutes into its dive.Several days later, pieces of the submersible were found about 1,600 feet away from the site of the Titanic, and all five passengers — including OceanGate’s chief executive, Stockton Rush — were declared dead from the “catastrophic implosion.” The next month, OceanGate stopped its operations — and its website still indicates that “all exploration and commercial operations” are suspended. OceanGate CEO and co-founder Stockton Rush was killed in the deadly implosion of the experimental Titan submersible as it was en route to the deep-sea grave of the Titanic last June. Bill Sikes, APThe public hearing that is starting on Monday will be livestreamed held at North Charleston, South Carolina, and will be a chance for the Marine Board of Investigation — the Coast Guard’s “the highest level of investigation” — to “consider evidence” from the loss of the Titan. “The hearing will examine all aspects of the loss of the Titan, including pre-accident historical events, regulatory compliance, crewmember duties and qualifications, mechanical and structural systems, emergency response and the submersible industry,” the Coast Guard said, noting that upon the Board will issue a report with evidence, facts, conclusions, and recommendations once the investigation is complete.A lengthy witness list released by the Coast Guard includes former OceanGate employees including its engineering director, Tony Nissen, and co-founder, Guillermo Sohnlein. The Coast Guard’s press office didn’t respond to a request for comment. The hearings could serve as a “wake up call” to ensure there are more certifications and safety checks for deep-sea exploration going forward, a professor specializing in marine biology and oceanography at the College of Charleston, Jack DiTullio, told ABC News 4.“The IMO, the International Maritime Organization, didn’t really have set laws at the time, this occurred in international waters so it’s not like one country has jurisdiction which is going to make this case interesting,” he said. While the implosion was a shocking loss, it’s an unfortunate part of exploration, he said.“It’s too bad we had to learn this way but we think of, again, going up in space, the Challenger blowing up, so there are many accidents that can happen when we are at the edge of discoveries of either out in space or the deep ocean that we learn from,” he said. “And unfortunately it seems to be the only way to learn.”

Coast Guard, in Its ‘Highest Level of Investigation,’ Set To Begin Hearings Into Titan Submersible’s Implosion

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