The tour operator responsible for the Titan submersible, which fatally imploded near the wreckage of the Titanic, “leveraged intimidation tactics … to evade regulatory scrutiny”, a US Coast Guard investigation report has concluded.
The incident resulted in the deaths of five people in June 2023 – including British adventurer Hamish Harding and father and son Shahzada and Suleman Dawood.
The chief executive of tour operator OceanGate Expeditions, Stockton Rush, and French national Paul-Henri Nargeolet, were also killed in the incident.
On Tuesday, the US Coast Guard published a 335-page report in which identified eight “primary causal factors” that led to the fatal implosion.
The report said OceanGate had a “toxic workplace environment” and used the “looming threat of being fired” to prevent staff from coming forward with safety concerns.
It added that analysis revealed a “disturbing pattern of misrepresentation and reckless disregard for safety”.
The report criticised OceanGate’s design and testing processes and the continued use of the Titan submersible despite “a series of incidents that compromised the integrity of the hull and other critical components”.
The tour operator’s former director of engineering was reported by the US Coast Guard to have said the first hull used on the Titan submersible was akin to a “high school project”.
According to the report, a contractor hired by OceanGate in 2022 voiced “numerous safety concerns” to a company director, before being told: “You have a bad attitude, you don’t have an explorer mindset, you know, we’re innovative and we’re cowboys, and a lot of people can’t handle that.”
Authored by lead investigator Thomas Whalen and marine board chairman Jason Neubauer, it read: “For several years preceding the incident, OceanGate leveraged intimidation tactics, allowances for scientific operations, and the company’s favourable 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, which had historically contributed to a strong safety record for commercial submersibles.
“The lack of both third-party oversight and experienced OceanGate employees on staff during their 2023 Titan operations allowed OceanGate’s chief executive officer to completely ignore vital inspections, data analyses, and preventative maintenance procedures, culminating in a catastrophic event.”
