Investigation continues one year after OceanGate submersible implosion (2024)

On June 18, 2023, a submersible on its way to the Titanic wreckage site went missing in the deep sea.

The disappearance of the submersible Titan, operated by Everett-based OceanGate and Seattle resident Stockton Rush, generated worldwide media attention as it was initially unknown whether the passengers could still be alive but trapped in the vessel thousands of feet below the ocean’s surface. Rush and four passengers were killed when the submersible imploded in a remote area of the Atlantic Ocean.

One year after the disaster, U.S. Coast Guard says its investigation is active and will take longer to complete than investigators initially projected. OceanGate remains closed and no longer occupies the space in the Port of Everett where it once had its headquarters.

Interest in OceanGate hasn’t wavered — the company and Titan have been the subject of numerous documentaries and news exposes — nor has the focus on deep-sea exploration, despite what happened with the Titan.

OceanGate

OceanGate was a company focused on manned submersibles and ocean exploration. Rush founded the company in 2009, and from the beginning its long-term target customers were those in the oil and gas sector and in national defense, co-founder Guillermo Sohnlein told The Seattle Times last year.

OceanGate created an expeditions subsidiary to spur demand — and tourists willing to pay up to $250,000 to be “mission specialists” on the dives. At the time of the disappearance, the company was valued at $60 million, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence records.

Soon after, OceanGate posted on its website that it had suspended all exploration and commercial operations; that update remains the only line on the OceanGate site.

The expedition and passengers

Five people were aboard the Titan submersible to view the wreckage of the RMS Titanic, which sunk after hitting a North Atlantic Ocean iceberg in 1912, killing more than 1,500 passengers and crew.

Rush, 61, lived in Seattle and had gone on dozens of dives on OceanGate vessels around the world. Hamish Harding, 58, was a British businessman and explorer who had gone to space on a Blue Origin flight and traveled to the South Pole with astronaut Buzz Aldrin.

Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his son Suleman, 19, were members of one of the most prominent business families in Pakistan. Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77, was a French explorer known as “Mr. Titanic” for his ship expertise. His daughter told 60 Minutes Australia this month that she has yet to hear from anyone associated with OceanGate about her father’s death.

The investigation

The investigation into the Titan implosion is a complex and ongoing effort, the Coast Guard’s Marine Board of Investigation Chair Jason Neubauer said in a news release. Investigators originally projected the work would take 12 months but have since extended that timeline.

The Coast Guard recovered debris and human remains from the ocean floor and in November said it was reviewing evidence with investigation teams from Canada and France. The investigation requires extensive forensic testing, the Coast Guard said.

Investigators haven’t found any evidence that the Titan passengers were aware of the imminent implosion, Neubauer told The New York Times this month. A viral transcript that reportedly detailed the Titan’s last moments in communication with its mothership, the Canadian research vessel Polar Prince, was found to be fake.

Oceangate’s safety record — and the future of deep-sea exploration

The Titan submersible was uncertified, and after the implosion, attention turned toward OceanGate’s and Rush’s safety record. Sohnlein, OceanGate’s co-founder, described Rush as “risk averse” and defended Rush’s views on safety. But others disagreed, including a group of industry experts who in a 2018 letter urged Rush to put his vessels through a voluntary certification process.

The incident with Titan appears to have failed to quell other uncertified submersibles. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada said this week it had identified many submersibles with people aboard that operated within Canadian waters before and after June 2023.

The ultrawealthy continue to express interest in the deep sea, The Wall Street Journal reported. One billionaire, an Ohio real estate investor, plans to embark on a dive to the Titanic shipwreck in a $20 million vessel.