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The co-founder of OceanGate is expected to offer insight into the inner workings of the company as he testifies before the US Coast Guard.
Guillermo Sohnlein founded Titan owner OceanGate with CEO Stockton Rush in 2009, who was among the five people who died when the submersible imploded in June 2023.
Sohnlein left the company in 2013 but after the submersible’s implosion, he has defended his former business partner. Another witness expected to testify today includes former OceanGate engineering director Phil Brooks.
Last week, Patrick Lahey, the co-founder of Triton Submarines, OceanGate’s rival, told the hearing he informed Rush about concerns he had with the Titan’s prior glass dome design when he saw the submersible in 2019, and stressed the importance of certifying the vessel.
Rush called classification “an impediment to innovation,” Lahey told US Coast Guard panelists. Classification is not a requirement for operating a deep sea vessel, but Lahey said he’d never sell one without classification.
Other witnesses raised concerns about the submersible’s design, including Antonella Wilby, a former OceanGate operations and engineering tech contractor.
Proceedings will resume this morning at 8.30am ET.
Proceedings to continue this morning
Welcome back as we restart our live coverage of the US Coast Guard’s hearing into the Titan submersible implosion.
Proceedings will start up again this morning at 8.30am ET as part of the Coast Guard’s investigation of the maritime disaster.
Three witnesses are due to give evidence to the panel.
Co-founder of Titan owner OceanGate, Guillermo Sohnlein, is up first and he is expected to give an insight into the inner workings of the company.
Other witnesses expected to testify today include former OceanGate engineering director Phil Brooks and Roy Thomas of the American Bureau of Shipping.
The hearing is expected to run through Friday.
Rhian Lubin23 September 2024 12:18
Watch: Coast Guard releases footage that provided ‘conclusive evidence’ that Titan passengers died
Michelle Del Rey21 September 2024 14:34
What to expect as we enter day four of the Coast Guard’s hearing
Another mission specialist who worked with the company that owned the Titan submersible that imploded last year while on its way to the Titanic wreckage is scheduled to testify before a U.S. Coast Guard investigatory panel Friday.
Mission specialist Fred Hagen is scheduled to be the first to testify Friday. Other witnesses have characterized mission specialists as people who paid a fee to play a role in OceanGate’s underwater exploration.
Find out more below.
Michelle Del Rey21 September 2024 08:34
Coast Guard adds ‘new witness’ to schedule ahead of Friday’s hearing
Michelle Del Rey21 September 2024 05:34
MBI created an animated model of the Titan’s doomed voyage
Michelle Del Rey21 September 2024 03:34
Final communications between the Titan crew and its support vessel, revealed
“All good here” were some of the final words that the doomed Titan submersible crew communicated before the submersible imploded on its mission to the Titanic wreckage site in June 2023.
The message, revealed as part of the Coast Guard’s Monday hearing into the circumstances of the failed mission, was sent to support vessel Polar Prince on June 18, 2023, shortly before the submersible imploded, killing all five of its crew members. It was an incident that captivated both sides of the Atlantic as crews made a mad dash to save the crew after the sub lost contact with the surface - with the world unaware that the lives had been lost.
The Coast Guard played an animated re-enactment of the Titan’s voyage that captured the submersible’s final, spotty exchange with the Polar Prince, during the Monday hearing that shed new light on the sub’s final mission.
Around 10am on June 18, Polar Prince asked the Titan crew whether they were able to see the support vessel on the submersible’s display. The support vessel asked the crew the same question seven times over the course of seven minutes. The Titan crew then sent “k,” meaning it was asking for a communications check.
Read the full story...
Michelle Del Rey21 September 2024 01:34
WATCH: Titan crew's final three-word text revealed in haunting animation of submersible's journey
Michelle Del Rey21 September 2024 00:34
The US Coast Guard has released exhibits relating to the hearing
Michelle Del Rey20 September 2024 23:34
WATCH: What happened to the Titan tourist submersible?
Michelle Del Rey20 September 2024 22:34