Titan submersible: Hearings begin to explore what caused the deep-sea disaster
Debris containing their “presumed human remains” was recovered in ensuing days as authorities concluded Titan had suffered a “catastrophic implosion”, collapsing inward under immense pressure.
OceanGate suspended all exploration and commercial operations following the incident.
The company currently has no full-time staff but is cooperating with investigators and will be represented by an attorney at the MBI hearings, it said in a statement to the Associated Press.
“There are no words to ease the loss endured by the families impacted by this devastating incident, but we hope that this hearing will help shed light on the cause of the tragedy,” the statement added.
The fortnight of public inquiries in North Charleston, South Carolina will delve into “all aspects of the loss of the Titan”, including “pre-accident historical events, regulatory compliance, crewmember duties and qualifications, mechanical and structural systems, emergency response and the submersible industry”.
The MBI is expected to hear testimony from as many as 10 current or former OceanGate employees, including the company’s co-founder Guillermo Sohnlein.
Other anticipated witnesses include specialists in deep-sea exploration, industry regulators, search and rescue experts, and engineers from Nasa and Boeing.
Additional hearings may yet be scheduled in a probe that was initially slated to last about a year.
Once the investigation wraps up, both the Coast Guard and the NTSB will produce reports containing their independent analysis.
