Topline
OceanGate, the company that operated the Titan submersible that imploded in the Atlantic Ocean during a paid trip to explore the wreck of the Titanic in 2023, used ‘intimidation tactics’ to evade regulatory scrutiny, including filing a strategic lawsuit against a whistleblower, according to a new report released by the U.S. Coast Guard’s Marine Board of Investigation.
A report released by the U.S. Coast Guard’s Marine Board of Investigation also found that OceanGate faced increasing financial pressure, forcing the company’s CEO to cut corners.
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Key Facts
The report called the company’s safety culture “critically flawed,” and said the firm prioritized “mounting financial shortfalls, customer expectations, and operational demands” over responsibility.
Former OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, who died onboard the Titan in 2023, previously dismissed concerns that the submersible’s hull could have been damaged, calling the craft “indestructible” and “completely safe,” the report found.
The company also filed a lawsuit against their former director of marine operations, who filed a complaint with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration—which an OSHA investigator characterized as a SLAPP lawsuit used to intimidate a whistleblower.
Before the deadly dive in 2023, OceanGate was facing serious financial pressure, and cost-cutting decisions likely impacted the submersible’s safety—including the decision to store the Titan outside in the Canadian winter, leading to “extreme temperature fluctuations” that compromised its hull integrity.
Rush loaned his company $1.85 million of his own money, according to the report, and also asked some employees to temporarily forgo a salary with the promise of eventually receiving back pay.
Key Background
The Titan submersible imploded off the coast of Newfoundland in June 2023 on a dive to tour the remains of the Titanic. The implosion killed all five passengers onboard: Rush, Titanic researcher Paul-Henri Nargeolet, British aviator and businessman Hamish Harding, British-Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, and his 19-year-old son Suleman Dawood. The passengers were exposed to about 4,930 pounds per square inch of water pressure, according to the Coast Guard’s report, which killed them instantly. Debris from the vessel was eventually found about 1,600 feet away from the Titanic’s hull. Before the Titan dives, Rush embarked on a speaking tour, engaging future customers at venues like the Explorers Club in New York City for trips that would have a final price tag of $250,000. “OceanGate aimed to engage the 1% of the 1% and the ultra-high net worth adventure explorer to take part in the expeditions,” the report released on Tuesday reads.
Big Number
18. That’s how many bolts the Titan was supposed to use to secure its 3,500 pound forward dome. Rush opted to only use four bolts, according to the report, which caused the forward dome to fall off while the submersible was being hoisted during a 2021 dive to the Titanic wreck. Nobody was killed or injured, but the incident showcased OceanGate “prioritizing operational efficiency over safety,” the Marine Board of Investigation said.
Would Rush Face Criminal Charges?
The Coast Guard said they uncovered evidence that Rush violated the law and would have referred the case to prosecutors at the Department of Justice had he survived, the report says. The seaman’s manslaughter statute states that a ship’s executive officer can be held liable if their “fraud, neglect, connivance, misconduct, or violation of law” results in a person’s death, or if they “allow unsafe or unlawful conditions that lead to a fatality,” according to the report. Rush served as both the master of the Titan and officer accountable for its “design, outfitting, and deployment,” and should have understood the risks in the dive, the report said.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/zacharyfolk/2025/08/05/oceangate-used-intimidation-tactics-to-avoid-scrutiny-before-deadly-titan-sub-implosion-report-says/