The investigation into the OceanGate submersible’s implosion revealed the company’s CEO repeatedly skirted safety regulations to make the expedition possible. Photo by U.S. Coast Guard
June 14 (UPI) — The investigation into the deadly implosion of the Titan submersible will take longer than expected, the U.S. Coast Guard said Friday.
Tuesday will mark the anniversary of the ill-fated OceanGate sub’s disappearance while on its first commercial expedition to the wreckage of the Titanic. The Coast Guard announced the sub experienced a “catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber” days later.
The investigation into what caused the implosion that killed all five people aboard was initially projected to take a year, but the Coast Guard’s Marine Board of Investigation in a statement said several factors have delayed the analysis.
Those factors include the contracting of two salvage missions to retrieve vital evidence and the need for extensive forensic testing, according to the Coast Guard.
“The investigation into the implosion of the Titan submersible is a complex and ongoing effort,” MBI Chair Jason Neubauer said in a statement. “We are working closely with our domestic and international partners to ensure a comprehensive understanding of the incident.
“We’re grateful for the international and interagency cooperation which has been vital in recovering, preserving and forensically testing evidence from a remote offshore region and extreme depth. The MBI is committed to ensuring that we fully understand the factors that led to this tragedy in order to prevent similar occurrences in the future.”
The five people who died in the implosion were OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, his 19-year-old son Suleman, billionaire adventurer Hamish Harding and French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet.
OceanGate suspended operations in July after reportedly ignoring safety concerns for years.
During the investigation, outside experts criticized the carbon fiber construction of the Titan Sub. Rush prior to his fatal expedition argued the carbon fiber had a better strength-to-buoyancy ratio than titanium.
The investigation also revealed Rush repeatedly skirted safety rules and engineering standards when constructing the Titan and boasted on social media about sidestepping much of the regulations and bureaucracy necessary to make the trip possible.
“I’d like to be remembered as an innovator. I think it was General [Douglas] MacArthur who said, ‘You’re remembered for the rules you break,'” Rush said in 2021. “And I’ve broken some rules to make this. I think I’ve broken them with logic and good engineering behind me.”
The Coast Guard in October said it recovered the last bits of the crushed submersible along with some “presumed human remains” and catalogued them as evidence in the investigation.