Titan sub hearing live: OceanGate volunteer said nobody was concerned until sub ‘was really overdue’ from dive
The testimony is part of the days-long hearings as authorities investigate the Titan sub disaster that captivated the globe
Your support helps us to tell the story
My recent work focusing on Latino voters in Arizona has shown me how crucial independent journalism is in giving voice to underrepresented communities.
Your support is what allows us to tell these stories, bringing attention to the issues that are often overlooked. Without your contributions, these voices might not be heard.
Every dollar you give helps us continue to shine a light on these critical issues in the run up to the election and beyond
Eric Garcia
Washington Bureau Chief
A tearful mission specialist recounted collecting personal belongings from the victims of the OceanGate sub before it dove under the water and found tragedy.
Renata Rojas, the mission specialist from the US submersible company that operated the expedition, tearfully addressed the US Coast Guard Titan Marine Board of Investigations panel on Thursday. She talked about her role in preparing missions and her own trips down to the Titanic wreckage.
Once Rojas was finished, former OceanGate scientific director Dr Steven Ross spoke about a frightening mission that left him and other passengers at the surface unable to get out of the Titan submersible.
“The rest of the passengers tumbled about,” he said. “I ended up standing on the rear bulkhead. One passenger was hanging upside down.”
They were just two of the witnesses who have testified to the panel investigating the “catastrophic implosion” of the Titan submersible that killed all five passengers.
Earlier this week, David Lochridge, a former OceanGate employee, stated he had “no confidence whatsoever” with the Titan’s construction.
“It was inevitable something was going to happen. It was just a [question of] when,” the whistleblower said.
Rojas says passengers slept inside sub during one trip
Instead of coming back to the surface, Rojas said that weather during one dive was so dangerous that OceanGate made a decision to let passengers sleep on the vessel in the ocean for five hours.
“The weather when they came back to the surface was very rough,” she said. “It was safer for them to sleep and wake up five hours later and get them back on the platform.”
She added that one of her colleagues, Tim Catterson, a former OceanGate contractor, expressed that he would never get inside the submersible.
Rojas breaks down describing demeanor of passengers
Rojas broke down as she continued to describe what happened on the day of the tragedy. She said all of the passengers were excited to embark on their expedition.
“I saw five people smiling on the way to their journey,” she said. “Excited. We had wonderful weather.”
Rojas says she never felt ‘unsafe’ on OceanGate vessel
“I knew what I was doing was very risky,” she said. “I never at any point felt unsafe by the operation.”
Rojas says she gave OceanGate a deposit once she knew they wanted to build a submersible
The OceanGate mission specialist said she paid OceanGate a deposit in April 2017 for a trip in 2018. The trip was delayed until 2021 because of ongoing testing. Some of the ongoing issues included making a new carbon-fiber hull.
“It had a lot of noise,” she said. “Stockton was very verbal about the dives he did. It was noisy and the noise was not calming down. The sub was probably not strong enough.”
Renata Rojas says she disagrees with David Lochridge’s account of one of OceanGate’s dives in 2016
“He must have gone on a different dive,” she said. “Nobody was panicking. Nobody was crying. There was definitely no swearing or yelling.”
Earlier this week, David Lochridge said Stockton Rush, OceanGate CEO, threw the vessel’s controller at him during a voyage after a passenger began to cry over alleged concerns that Rush was driving recklessly.
“He hit me on the side of my head,” Lochridge said during testimony. Rojas said she was on the vessel during the dive but did not witness the interaction.
James Cameron says he should not have weighed in on Titan sub disaster in new interview
Speaking to The New York Times, filmmaker James Cameron has said that he shouldn’t have discussed what might’ve happened to the Titan submersible after the vessel imploded.
Cameron is a prominent figure in the deep-diving community. He has taken 33 dives to the wreckage of the Titanic. Following the incident, Cameron was publicly critical of OceanGate, the company that operated the Titan submersible.
When asked about his response to the hearing this week, Cameron told the outlet: “I should not have passed on hearsay information about the weights on national TV. We have enough intentional disinformation in our world today, without adding to it with undisciplined rumor mongering.”
Renata Rojas, an OceanGate mission specialist, takes the stand
Rojas is a New York City banker. She said she was “obsessed” with the Titanic, even before the wreckage was found in 1985. So she became a scuba diver.
“I wanted to find the wreck but someone beat me to it,” she said, adding that she had been interested in finding a way to see the wreck. That’s how she found OceanGate.
Day three of hearing begins with OceanGate as witness
Thursday’s hearing began with its daily opening at 8.30am ET.
Renta Rojas, OceanGate’s mission specialist, will begin her testimony at approximately 9am.
OceanGate mission specialist to testify this morning
A mission specialist for the company that owned the Titan submersible that imploded in 2023 is scheduled to testify before the US Coast Guard on Thursday.
Renata Rojas is the latest person to testify who is connected to Titan owner OceanGate after an investigatory panel has listened to two days of testimony that raised questions about the company’s operations before the doomed mission.
Find out more below.
Mission specialist for Titan sub owner to testify before Coast Guard
A mission specialist for the company that owned the Titan submersible that imploded is scheduled to testify before the U.S. Coast Guard
Remnants of Titan sub’s hull scattered on floor revealed in newly released footage
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments