A key employee with the company you own experimental submersible that imploded en route to the wreckage of the Titanic pushed back on the question of the Coast Guard investigator about whether OceanGate felt a sense of “desperation” to complete the dive because of the high price tag. But the submersible pilot testified that there was an “unexpected” thing Titan’s implosion.
Amber Bay, director of administration for the company that owns the Titan submarine, insisted Tuesday that the company would not “do dangerous diving just to meet a need.”
But he agreed that the company wants to send it to those who pay $ 250,000 and are encouraged to participate as “mission specialists.”
“There’s definitely an urgency to deliver what we’ve got to offer and dedication and perseverance to that end,” he told the Coast Guard panel.
Founder of OceanGate Stockton Rush was among five people killed when the submarine exploded in June 2023.
The Coast Guard opened public hearings earlier this month as part of a high-level investigation into the cause of the implosion. Some of the testimony has focused on the troubled nature of the company.
On Tuesday, Bay retracted earlier testimony from Antonella Wilby, a former OceanGate contractor who said Bay told her “you don’t have an explorer’s mindset” after she raised safety concerns. Bay said Wilby’s concerns were noted at the time and treated with respect. Bay added that his own duties did not involve engineering or operations.
He later broke down in tears when discussing the tragedy, because he knew the victims.
“I had the privilege of knowing the lost explorers of life,” Bay said through tears. “And not a day goes by that I don’t think about him, his family and their loss.”
Earlier in the hearing, OceanGate’s former director of operations David Lochridge said he often clashed with Rush and felt that the company was committed only to making money. “The whole idea behind the company is to make money,” Lochridge said. “There is very little in the way of science.”
Lochridge and other previous witnesses painted a picture of a company that is impatient to get unconventionally designed work into the water. The accident sparked a worldwide debate about the future of private undersea exploration.
On Tuesday, submersible pilot and designer Karl Stanley of the Roatan Institute of Deepsea Exploration testified to provide his perspective on submersible operation and safety at sea. He said the phenomenon of “billionaires dating scientists” had disrupted the economics of the industry.
Stanley also said he sees OceanGate’s characterization of paid passengers as “mission specialists” as an attempt to avoid accountability.
“It’s a clear dodge with trying to get around US regulations with passengers,” Stanley said.
In addition, the company’s “entire business plan makes good sense,” Stanley said. He also said he felt the implosion ultimately stemmed from Rush’s desire to leave a mark on history.
“There is nothing unexpected about this. It is desired by everyone who has access to a little information,” said Stanley.
Stanley testified that he had previously tried diving with Rush on one of the submarines in the Bahamas, WCIV-TV reported.
“I was the first person to drive, but he really insisted. It was an idea, no one asked to drive, he had each of us drive, and I think that there is a painful way if we imploded, we become a little bit in control of our own destiny,” said Stanley , WCIV reported.
The hearing is expected to take place on Friday and include several other witnesses, some with ties to the company.
“This cannot be the end of deep ocean exploration”
Businessman Guillermo Sohnlein, who helped found OceanGate with Rush, said during testimony that he hoped the silver lining of the disaster would inspire renewed interest in exploration, including the deepest waters of the world’s oceans.
“This cannot be the end of deep sea exploration. This cannot be the end of deep diving submersibles and I do not believe it will be,” he said.
Coast Guard officials noted at the start of the hearing that the submersible had not been independently reviewed, as is standard practice. This and the Titan’s unusual design took hold in the undersea exploration community.
OceanGate, based in Washington state, suspended operations after the implosion. The company currently has no full-time employees, but has been represented by lawyers during the hearing.
During the submarine’s final dive on June 18, 2023, the crew lost contact after exchanging texts about Titan’s depth and weight during descent. The support ship Polar Prince then sent repeated messages asking if the Titan could still see the ship on its onboard display.
When the submarine was reported to be too late, rescuers chased the ship, aircraft and other equipment to an area about 435 miles south of St. John’s, Newfoundland. The wreckage of the Titan was later found on the sea floor about 330 yards from the bow of the Titanic, Coast Guard officials said. No one on board survived.
During the hearing, the Coast Guard has released new images that show the remains of the submersible on the sea floor more than 12,000 feet underwater.
Pelagic Research Service through AP
OceanGate said it has cooperated with the Coast Guard and NTSB investigations since their inception. Titan has traveled to the site of the Titanic wreck back to 2021.
In addition to Rush, the implosion also killed veteran Titanic explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet; two members of a prominent Pakistani family, Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman Dawood; and British adventurer Hamish Harding.
Last month, the Nargeolet family filed for $50 million wrongful death lawsuit to OceanGate. Known as “Mr. Titanic,” Nargeolet participated in 37 dives to the Titanic site, the most dives in the world, according to the lawsuit.
