New Report Reveals Why The Titan Submersible Imploded (And It's Just As Bad As We Feared)

The more information that comes out about the ill-fated Titan submersible that tragically imploded in June of 2023, the worse the situation seems to have been. Today, the United States Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation released an in-depth report and a subsequent press release that details its additional findings on the implosion and what led up to it.

The report is damning and does not put OceanGate, the company that built and piloted the submersible, in any kind of good light, stating, "The board determined the primary contributing factors were OceanGate's inadequate design, certification, maintenance, and inspection process for the Titan." Jason Neubauer, the chair of the investigation board, further said, "This marine casualty and the loss of five lives was preventable."

Moreover, there were data points from the sub's 2022 visit to the Titanic that should have been investigated but never were. The Coast Guard's (link will download a PDF to your device) report is 327 pages long and details everything that was found wrong with the Titan submersible. In short, it was a near-total lack of proper testing on the submersible's carbon fiber hull. 

In addition to emphasizing the critical need for proper testing and regulation of the submersible, the report indicated that OceanGate's workplace was "toxic" and whistleblowers or otherwise dissenters were ignored. Stockton Rush, one of the five people who died in the implosion and OceanGate's CEO, is ultimately to blame for the disaster, as he fostered an environment that put safety and accountability under a "vessel of novel design" per the Coast Guard's verbiage.

As a result of the board's findings, new regulations and guidance are going to be released that pertain to how submersibles are regulated and inspected. New personnel will also be delegated to different Coast Guard areas of operation to help facilitate future inspections. Additionally, it has changed the classification of different kinds of submersibles to (hopefully) force future craft like the Titan to undergo more stringent inspection prior to commercial or research use. New safety rules are never a bad thing; it's just unfortunate that this is the reason why the rules were created.