Two months after the US Coast Guard, a US government agency on Wednesday again accused the failures of the company OceanGate of being responsible for the implosion of the Titan submersible, which cost the lives of five people during an exploration of the remains of the Titanic in 2023.
“We found that OceanGate’s engineering process for the Titan was inadequate…and did not meet the necessary strength and durability requirements,” the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said in a report.
“OceanGate was unable to adequately test the Titan and was therefore unaware of the pressure vessel’s actual strength and durability, which was likely far below its goals,” the agency argued.
“The Titan was damaged”
OceanGate’s analysis of the tracking data was “flawed,” he added, so “the company was unaware that the Titan was damaged and needed to be immediately removed from service” after an earlier dive.
The Titan, a small submersible about 6.5 meters long from OceanGate, had submerged on June 18, 2023 to observe the remains of the Titanic and was due to resurface seven hours later, but contact was lost less than two hours after its departure.
The submersible was destroyed shortly after its dive by a “catastrophic implosion” that instantly killed its five passengers, including 77-year-old French scientist Paul-Henri Nargeolet, nicknamed “Mr. Titanic,” and 61-year-old OceanGate boss Stockton Rush.
Negligence disputes
Negligence controversies arose very quickly after the accident.
The US Coast Guard opened an investigation and held, in September 2024, a series of public hearings with around twenty witnesses, including former OceanGate employees.
In early August 2025, they revealed a 335-page investigative report accusing the company of numerous design and maintenance failures.
OceanGate, which charged $250,000 for a place on the submersible, suspended its commercial activities after the tragedy.
The family of French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet sued the company a year ago and is demanding $50 million for “gross negligence.”
Source: BFM TV
