PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The Coast Guard’s report on the Titan submersible disaster that killed five on the way to the Titanic said Tuesday the implosion was “preventable”
The Coast Guard convened its highest level of investigation in the aftermath of the 2023 implosion off Canada. The disappearance of the Titan led to a search that grabbed worldwide attention.
There were no survivors. The Titan was owned by OceanGate, a private company based in Washington state. The operator of the submersible, OceanGate head Stockton Rush, was among the five on board who died.
The report found the company’s safety procedures were “critically flawed,” noting that the core of the failures inside the company came down to “glaring disparities” between their safety protocols and actual practices.
The submersible disaster has led to lawsuits and calls for tighter regulation of the developing private deep sea expedition industry.
Jason Neubauer, with the Marine Board of Investigation, said that the findings will help prevent future tragedies.
“There is a need for stronger oversight and clear options for operators who are exploring new concepts outside of the existing regulatory framework,” he said in a statement.
Investigators found that the submersible’s design, certification, maintenance and inspection process were all inadequate. A Coast Guard statement said OceanGate also had a “toxic workplace culture,” and its mission was hindered by lack of domestic and international framework for submersible operations.
Numerous OceanGate employees have come forward in the two years since the implosion to support that claim.
The report alleges that for several years preceding the Titan’s explosion, OceanGate “leveraged intimidation tactics, allowances for scientific operations, and the company’s favorable reputation to evade regulatory scrutiny.”
“By strategically creating and exploiting regulatory confusion and oversight challenges, OceanGate was ultimately able to operate TITAN completely outside of the established deep-sea protocols,” the report found.