Titan Implosion Hearing Reveals Greed And Passion

Witnesses testified that the company operating an experimental deep-water submersible that imploded, killing five people, prioritized profits over safety and ignored warning signs before the disaster, David Sharp reported for the Associated Press (AP).

Testimony painted conflicting images of greed and hubris, as OceanGate sought wealthy clients for its submersible made from carbon fiber — a material untested at such depths. I Photo: United States Coast Guard

Several company officials, however, highlighted the spirit of exploration and the calculated risks taken to push humankind’s boundaries. These contrasting viewpoints emerged as the Coast Guard panel wrapped up two weeks of testimony on the Titan disaster last year.

The panel's goal is to determine why the carbon-fiber submersible was lost 12,500 feet (3,810 meters) deep on the ocean floor near the wreck of the Titanic.

Testimony painted conflicting images of greed and hubris, as OceanGate sought wealthy clients for its submersible made from carbon fiber — a material untested at such depths — while modern-day explorers considered the risks carefully as they aimed to open the deepest parts of the world’s oceans to more people.

Guillermo Sohnlein, who co-founded OceanGate with Stockton Rush, described their lofty goal as “giving humanity greater access to the ocean, specifically the deep ocean.” Using carbon fiber for the pressure hull was not a novel idea, he said, adding that Rush himself was the first to test the design.

However, former operations director David Lochridge claimed the company was driven solely by profit. “The whole idea behind the company was to make money,” he testified.

“There was very little emphasis on science.”

Witnesses even disagreed on how to refer to the wealthy clients who paid $250,000 for the experience. Some called them passengers, while OceanGate referred to them as “mission specialists.”