OceanGate co-owner to testify to Coast Guard Monday about Titan submersible disaster

The co-founder of the company that owned the experimental submersible that imploded en route to the wreckage of the Titanic is scheduled to testify before the U.S.Coast Guard on Monday as part of its investigation of the maritime disaster.Businessman Guillermo Sohnlein founded Titan owner OceanGate with Stockton Rush, who was among the five people who died when the submersible imploded in June 2023.

The Coast Guard opened a public hearing earlier this month that is part of a high level investigation into the cause of the implosion.Sohnlein left the Washington company years ago, but in the aftermath of the submersible’s implosion, he spoke in defense of its efforts.In his testimony, he is expected to provide perspective into the company’s inner workings.The public hearing began Sept.

16 and some of the testimony has focused on the troubled nature of the company. Earlier in the hearing, former OceanGate operations director David Lochridge said he frequently clashed with Rush and felt the company was committed only to making money.“The whole idea behind the company was to make money,” Lochridge testified.“There was very little in the way of science.”Other witnesses expected to testify Monday include former OceanGate engineering director Phil Brooks and Roy Thomas of the American Bureau of Shipping.

The hearing is expected to run through Friday and include more witnesses.Lochridge and other witnesses have painted a picture of a troubled company that was impatient to get its unconventionally designed craft into the water.The accident set off a worldwide debate about the future of private undersea exploration.Coast Guard officials noted at the start of the hearing that the submersible had not been independently reviewed, as is standard practice.

That and Titan’s unusual design subjected it to scrutiny in the undersea exploration community.OceanGate, based in Washington state, suspended its operations after the implosion.The company has no full-ti...