As more details about the OceanGate Titan submersible incident surface, the ill-fated watercraft’s wreck is shown in a new video.
The nearly two-minute video shows the wreck of the imploded OceanGate Titan submersible, which was discovered 2.5 miles below the surface. Among the noticeable pieces of the watercraft scattered on the ocean floor was its rear dome.
The U.S. Coast Guard released the new wreckage footage on Wednesday, Sept. 18, just hours before the hearing on the submersible’s doom execution at the Titanic wreckage site resumed.
“We’re releasing more footage of the Titan salvage ahead of technical testimony and exhibits,” the U.S. Coast Guard shared. “Transparency remains our priority as we provide context and information to the public.”
The implosion of the experimental OceanGate Titan submersible occurred around 12,500 feet below sea level on June 18, 2023.
Passengers of the watercraft were OceanGate CEO and co-founder Stockton Rush, British billionaire Hamish Harding, crew member Paul-Henri Nargeolet, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, and his son Suleman.
The watercraft was heading to the wreck site of the R.M.S. Titanic off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada in the North Atlantic Ocean. It went radio silent one hour and 45 minutes into the dive. Authorities were alerted hours later.
All five passengers were killed.
Photos of the submersible’s wreckage were presented to the public earlier this week. The final message that Titan’s support ship, Polar Prince, received from the watercraft was also revealed, which was “All good here.” The message was sent just six seconds before it went completely radio silent.
Former OceanGate Employee Claims the CEO Liked to ‘Do Things on the Cheap’
During his testimony on Tuesday, Sept. 17, OceanGate’s former director of marine operations David Lochridge called out Rush by stating the company’s late CEO liked to “do things on the cheap.”
Lochridge stated Rush’s vision was to “give somebody this PlayStation controller and within an hour they’re going to be a pilot.”
“That’s not the way it works,” he said. “It’s like showing somebody how to fly a helicopter and then putting them in charge of taking passengers up.”
“It was inevitable something was going to happen. It was just a when,” Lochridge continued. He also recalled the “appalling faults” the original model of the OceanGate Titan submersible had.
“There was no way I was signing off on this.” Lochridge then said about the model. He noted to have “no confidence whatsoever” in the construction of the submersible.
Lochridge also said he was fired from the company after he refused to sign off on the original model. “It was all smoke and mirrors,” Lochridge further stated about how OceanGate operated. “All the social media that you see about all these past expeditions. They always had issues with their expeditions.”
He is one of the 10 former OceanGate employees sharing testimonies at the hearing. The U.S. Coast Guard stated the hearing is to “uncover the facts surrounding the incident and develop recommendations to prevent similar tragedies in the future.”