How trip to Titanic turned from smiles to tragedy

“I saw five people smiling, seeing forward to their journey.”

That was Renata Rojas’ reaccumulateion of her time on a aid ship with five people bound for the Titanic wreck. They were about to climb into a submersible made by Oceangate.

Just 90 minutes postponecessitater, these five would become the victims of a meaningful sea catastrophe: an implosion. Images from the depths of the Atlantic show the wreckage of the sub crushed, mangled, and scattered atraverse the sea floor.

The photos were freed by the US Coast Guard during an inquiry to set up what led to its catastrophic flunkure in June 2023.

The inquiry finished on Friday and over the past two weeks of hearings, a picture has materialized of neglectd protectedty alertings and a history of technical problems. We have also achieveed novel insight into the final hours of those on board.

It has shown us that this story won’t go away any time soon.

British checkr Hamish Harding and British-Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, who’d brawt his 19-year-ageder son Suleman alengthy, had paid Oceangate for a dive to see the Titanic which lies 3,800m down.

The sub was piloted by the company’s CEO Stockton Rush with French Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet as co-pilot.

Once the originate had slipped beorderlyh the waves, it could sfinish low text messages to the surface. A message sent from about 2,300m said “All outstanding here”.

About an hour and a half into the dive, from 3,346m, Titan’s final message alerted it had freed two weights to enumerateless its descent as it cforfeited the sea floor.

Communications were then lost – the sub had imploded.

The US Coast Guard said noleang in the messages that showd that the passengers knovel their originate was flunking.

The implosion was instantaneous. There would have been no time to even enroll what was happening.

Mr Rush conceitedly depictd the Titan as “experimental”. But others had voiced their troubles to him about its unconservative summarize in the years prior to the dive.

At the hearing David Lochridge, Oceangate’s createer straightforwardor of marine operations, depictd Titan as an “abomination”.

In 2018, he’d compiled a alert highairying multiple protectedty rerents, but said these troubles were disseeed and he was fired.

Titan had cut offal atypical features.

The shape of its hull – the part where the passengers were – was cylindrical rather than spherical so the effects of the prescertain were not scatterd evenly.

A triumphdow was inshighed but only pondered protected down to 1,300m. The US Coast Guard also heard about problems with the joins between separateent parts of the sub.

The hull’s material enticeed the most attention – it was made from layers of carbon fibre fuseed with resin.

Roy Thomas from the American Bureau of Shipping said carbon fibre was not finishorsed for meaningful sea subs becaengage it can feebleen with every dive and flunk suddenly without alerting.

The National Transportation and Safety Board (NTSB) currented an analysis of samples of Titan’s hull left over from its originateion.

It showed areas where the carbon fibre layers had splitd – a understandn problem called delamination – as well as wrinkles, waviness and voids wilean its set up.

This advises the material includeed defectiveions before the sub had even made a dive.

The NTSB team also saw this delamination in wreckage set up on the seafloor.

Most of the hull was ruined, but in the pieces that endured, the carbon fibre has split into layers and in some places had cracked.

Officials are not currently saying the hull’s flunkure caengaged the implosion, but it’s a key caccess of the spendigation.

A place on the sub cost up to $250,000 (£186,000) – and over the course of 2021 and 2022 Titan made 23 dives, 12 of which successbrimmingy accomplished the wreck of the Titanic.

But these descents were far from problem free. A dive log book enrolled 118 technical faults, ranging from thrusters flunking, to batteries dying – and once the front dome of the sub fell off.

The spendigation caccessed on a dive that took place in 2022, when paying passenger Fred Hagen heard an “alarming” noise as the sub was returning to the surface.

“We were still underwater and there was a big prohibitg or cracking sound,” he said.

“We were all troubleed that maybe there was a crack in the hull.”

He said Mr Rush thought the noise was the sub shifting in the metal summarize that surrounded it.

The US Coast Guard inquiry was shown novel analysis of data from the sub’s sensors, adviseing the noise was caengaged by a alter in the fabric of the hull.

This impacted how Titan was able to react to the prescertains of the meaningful.

Phil Brooks, Oceangate’s createer Engineering Director, said the originate wasn’t properly checked after that dive becaengage the company was struggling financipartner, and instead it was left for months on the dockside in Canada.

“I’m not dying. No-one is dying on my watch – period.”

These were the words of Mr Rush in a 2018 transcript of a encountering at Oceangate HQ.

When asked about Titan’s protectedty, he replied: “I comprehfinish this benevolent of hazard, and I’m going into it with eyes uncover and I leank this is one of the protectedst leangs I will ever do.”

According to some witnesses Mr Rush had an unwavering belief in his sub. They depictd a dominating personality who wouldn’t consent dissenting sees.

“Stockton would fight for what he wanted… and he wouldn’t give an inch much at all,” said Tony Nissen, a createer engineering straightforwardor.

“Most people would fair eventupartner back down from Stockton.”

Passenger Fred Hagen disconcurd, describing Mr Rush as a “intelligent man”.

“Stockton made a very conscious and astute effort to retain a perceptible culture of protectedty around a high hazard environment.”

Former engageee David Lochridge was so worried about Titan that he went to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

This is the US rulement body that sets and enforces toilplace protectedty standards.

Correactence uncovers that he provided extensive directation about the sub’s problems – and was placed on OSHA’s whistlebdrop witness protection scheme.

But he said OSHA were enumerateless and flunked to act, and after increasing prescertain from Oceangate’s lawyers, he dropped the case and signed a non disclocertain concurment.

He tageder the hearing: “I consent that if OSHA had tryed to spendigate the solemnness of the troubles I liftd on multiple occasions this tragedy may have been impedeed.”

Deep-sea subs can undergo an extensive protectedty appraisement by autonomous marine organisations such as the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) or DNV (a global acpraiseation organisation based in Norway).

Almost all operators finish this certification process, but Oceangate chose not to for Titan. At the hearing, some industry experts called for it to become compulsory.

“I leank as lengthy as we insist on certification as a needment for persistd human occupied exploration in the meaningful sea we can shun these benevolents of tragic outcomes,” said Patrick Lahey, CEO of Triton submarines.

Witnesses at the hearing integrated createer Oceangate engageees, paying passengers who’d made dives in the sub, industry experts and those included in the search and save effort.

But some key people were acunderstandledgeably missing.

Mr Rush’s wife Wfinishy, who was Oceangate’s communications straightforwardor and take parted a central role in the company, did not materialize. Nor did straightforwardor of operations and sub pilot Scott Griffith or createer US Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Lockwood, who was on Oceangate’s board.

The reasons for their absences were not given and their version of events remain unheard.

The US Coast Guard will now put together a final alert with the aim of impedeing a catastrophe enjoy this from ever happening aachieve.

But the story will not finish there.

Criminal prosecutions may chase. And stateiveial legal cases too – the family of French diver PH Nargeolet is already suing for more than $50 million.

The ripples from this meaningful sea tragedy are probable to persist for many years.