NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. — The United States Coast Guard’s Marine Board of Investigation (MBI) began a series of public hearings as part of its investigation into the Titan submersible implosion.

The Titan submersible imploded while journeying to the wreckage of the Titanic on June 18, 2023, killing all five people on board.

The MBI is the highest level of investigation within the Coast Guard and has tasked itself with determining the cause of the implosion and any evidence of:

·      Failure of material.

·      Acts of misconduct, negligence, or willful violation of the law.

·      Coast Guard personnel or an employee of another government agency’s contribution to the cause of the incident.

According to an incident fact sheet the Titan submersible lost contact with its support vessel one hour and 45 minutes into its dive to the wreck of the Titanic. Pieces of the Titan submersible were found four days later, approximately 500 meters from the bow of the Titanic.

Among the scheduled witnesses are former employees of OceanGate and the exploration company that developed the Titan, including its co-founder Guillermo Söhnlein.

Tony Nissen, former OceanGate Engineering Director, is the first witness to take to the podium. Nissen first joined OceanGate in March 2016.

When asked if he made all engineering decisions Nissen testified, “My job as director of engineering is more about rounding up the cattle than it is about making all the choices, for sure.”

Questions then turned to the fact that the submersible was never classed by The Classification Society, an organization that works to apply and develop technical standards for the design and construction of marine vessels.

Nissen said OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, who was killed in the implosion, claimed the classification would “take too long” and was too expensive.

“It’s ridiculous in his [Rush] words, it ‘stifles innovation’,” Nissen said.

According to Nissen, he was terminated by OceanGate for refusing to sign off on a hull that was damaged prior to the company’s first Titanic expedition in 2019.

When asked if Nissen himself would have felt comfortable going down in the submersible, Nissen said, “He [Rush] wanted me to be the pilot that runs the Titanic missions, and I told him ‘I’m not getting in it’.”

Twenty-three other witnesses are scheduled to take to the podium over the next two weeks. Once the investigation is complete, the US Coast Guard will conduct a final report.

It is unclear when the public can expect to see the report once approved by the Commandant of the Coast Guard.