Titan Sub Update as Footage Shows Moment Wreck Discovered

Newly released footage from the U.S. Coast Guard shows the moment the Titan submersible wreckage was found on the Atlantic Ocean floor.
Published as part of an inquiry into the disaster, the video captures the site where five lives were lost, roughly 300 meters from the Titanic’s bow. It reveals debris from the Titan scattered across the seabed. The vessel’s tail cone can be seen semi-intact, with wires and various components exposed from the inside.
Many people were surprised to see any distinct part of the vessel—a widespread theory at the time of the discovery suggested the force of the collapse would’ve obliterated the sub completely.
Key figures connected to OceanGate have given testimony this week as part of a two-week hearing. The goal of the Coast Guard is to decode the events prior to the Titan’s disappearance on June 18, 2023. Communication with the vessel was lost 90 minutes into the dive toward the Titanic wreck.
One of the last messages from Titan’s crew to support ship Polar Prince said: “all good here,” according to a visual recreation presented earlier in the hearing. Four days later, a remote-operated search and discovery vehicle located it.
Renata Rojas, a mission specialist for the company, took the stand on Thursday, emphasizing the dedication of OceanGate staff. She said that the team was composed of “competent people who wanted to make dreams come true,” contrasting earlier testimonies that accused the company of prioritizing profits over safety.
“I was learning a lot and working with amazing people,” Rojas testified. “Some of those people are very hard-working individuals that were just trying to make dreams come true.”
Former Director of Operations David Lochridge testified quite the opposite this week. He spoke of serious concerns regarding the company’s leadership and safety standards.
According to Lochridge—who was dismissed from OceanGate in 2018 after verbalizing these issues—there were frequent clashes with co-founder Stockton Rush, who was aboard the Titan when it imploded.
“The whole idea behind the company was to make money,” Lochridge said during his testimony. He further claimed there was “very little in the way of science.”
OceanGate Expeditions had been running voyages to the Titanic wreck since 2021. Based in Washington state, the company suspended all operations following the disaster and has not resumed its ventures. It currently has no full-time employees, but an attorney has been representing the company throughout the hearings.
Rojas, a member of the Explorers Club, lost colleagues Hamish Harding and Paul-Henri Nargeolet in the Titan tragedy. Despite the disaster, she said she never felt unsafe while working with OceanGate.
“I knew what I was doing was very risky,” she said. “I never at any point felt unsafe by the operation.”
Industry experts previously voiced concerns about the risks associated with exploring extreme environments using unconventional technology. Standard safety procedures for submersibles typically involve external validation of designs, a step the company did not follow.
Rush was warned of this in 2018, not just by his operations director, but in a letter from the Marine Technology Society, co-signed by three dozen industry professionals. They warned that OceanGate’s decision not to seek third-party certification for its submersible could have “catastrophic” consequences.
It was stressed that an external validation process was crucial to ensuring the safety of all submersible occupants, despite the potential costs and delays it might involve​.
This article includes reporting from The Associated Press.