Titan sub hearings live: Map shows how close OceanGate ship was to Titanic wreckage as testimony is set to end today
US Coast Guard’s two-week long hearing into the disastrous Titan submersible voyage operated by OceanGate enters its final day
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A new map shows just how close the Titan sub was to the Titanic wreckage before disaster hit.
While the Titan’s last known position before the implosion was 1,600ft away from the bow of the Titanic, its debris was found much closer to the bow at 300m away, Coast Guard officials said.
The map was one of several pieces of new information that came out of testimony during public hearings with the US Coast Guard on Thursday. Testimony in the agency’s investigation into the June 2023 disaster is set to conclude today.
Former OceanGate employee Matthew McCoy, Captain Jamie Frederick of the Coast Guard Sector Boston and Coast Guard Search and Rescue Specialist Scott Talbot are all set to testify.
John Winters worked with OceanGate to evaluate the safety of its Antipodes vessel. On Thursday, Winters testified to the Titan Marine Board of Investigation that OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush Rush “did express on multiple occasions that regulations were stifling his innovation process.”
Despite that, OceanGate “never attempted to circumvent any regulations,” Winters added.
Final hearing schedule
The final hearing in the Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation’s inquiry into the Titan submersible will begin Friday morning.
The hearing will kick off with Commander Zachary Roberston of the Coast Guard Marine Safety Center.
Then, the board will hear from Captain Jamie Frederick with the Coast Guard Sector Boston. Frederick was involved with the Titan search efforts and regularly provided updates to the media last summer.
The witness list will end with Scott Talbot, a search and rescue specialist with the Coast Guard.
The board will then hear closing statements before the final hearing day ends.
Hearing ends for the day
Thursday’s hearing ended after Lieutenant Commander Jonathan Duffett of the Coast Guard Office of Commercial Vessel Compliance testified to the board about submersible regulations.
The final scheduled hearing in the investigation will take place tomorrow.
Coast Guard member testifies on ‘mission specialists’ and paid passengers
Lieutenant Commander Jonathan Duffett of the Coast Guard Office of Commercial Vessel Compliance spoke to the issue of “mission specialists” on board the Titan and other vessels.
The issue has come up repeatedly during this hearing. Other witnesses have testified that OceanGate may have been labeling passengers as ‘mission specialists’ when they did not do specialized work on board the Titan.
“It’s clearly a dodge of trying to go around US regulations with passengers,” Karl Stanley, a close friend of CEO Stockton Rush and owner of a diving company in Honduras, testified Tuesday.
A member of the Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation asked Duffett about these mission specialists: “OceanGate, on multiple occasions, took at least three people on board who paid to become OceanGate designated as ‘mission specialists’ on missions that departed from US cities...Would these ‘mission specialists’ be considered, or would this operation be considered, a small passenger vessel operation?”
Duffett told the board that regulations state that paid passengers aren’t crew members.
“If you have paid, then you don’t qualify as a member of the crew,” Duffett testified.
Second Coast Guard witness begins final testimony of the day
Lieutenant Commander Jonathan Duffett of the Coast Guard Office of Commercial Vessel Compliance has begun his testimony.
He is the final witness of the day.
Coast Guard inspector ends testimony
John Winters, a master marine inspector with the Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound, has ended his testimony.
The hearing is now on break for lunch and will resume at 1:45 p.m. EDT.
OceanGate ‘never attempted to circumvent any regulations’, Coast Guard inspector said
OceanGate “never attempted to circumvent any regulations” even as CEO Stockton Rush complained they were stifling his innovation, according to John Winters, a master marine inspector with the Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound.
“He did express on multiple occasions that regulations were stifling his innovation process,” Winters said of Rush earlier on Thursday.
OceanGate did not ask Coast Guard to inspect Titan, inspector says
OceanGate did not ask the Coast Guard to inspect the doomed Titan submersible, according to John Winters, a master marine inspector with the Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound.
Winters said he only spoke to former Oceangate CEO Stockton Rush about the sub in passing when he mentioned wanting to take a vessel to the Titanic wreckage.
Stockton Rush complained about Coast Guard regulations, safety inspector said
John Winters, a marine inspector with the Coast Guard, testified that former OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush complained about regulatory processes.
“He did express on multiple occasions that regulations were stifling his innovation process,” Winters said of his conversations with Rush.
Winters worked to evaluate the safety of OceanGate’s Antipodes vessel. OceanGate wanted to obtain a small passenger vessel certification from the Coast Guard but did not receive it, Winters testified.
Coast Guard safety inspector worked with Stockton Rush to evaluate safety of OceanGate vessel
John Winters, a marine inspector with the Coast Guard, interacted directly with former OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, he revealed on Thursday.
Winters worked to evaluate the safety of Antipodes, another vessel made by the company.
“We basically took the submarine apart, put it back together, and tested every single system on the submarine,” Winters said.
OceanGate wanted to obtain a small passenger vessel certification from the Coast Guard but did not receive it, Winters testified. The company had to instead apply for an oceanographic research vessel certification, which they obtained.
Coast Guard marine inspector testifies
John Winters with the Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound has begun his testimony before the Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation.
Winters is a master marine inspector and helps train other inspectors.
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