By Jennifer Calfas

The U.S. Coast Guard determined the implosion of the Titan submersible that killed five people while traveling to the wreckage of the Titanic was a preventable disaster caused by OceanGate Expeditions's inability to meet safety and engineering standards.

A 335-page report detailing a two-year inquiry from the U.S. Coast Guard's Marine Board of Investigation found OceanGate failed to follow maintenance and inspection protocols, operated without third-party oversight and disregarded analyses, investigations and assessments for the deep-sea submersible.

Stockton Rush, co-founder and chief executive of OceanGate who died in the implosion, showed negligence and could have faced criminal investigation if he were alive, the report said.

OceanGate avoided regulatory review and managed the submersible outside of standard protocols "by strategically creating and exploiting regulatory confusion and oversight challenges," the report said. The deep-sea exploration company also fostered a "critically flawed" culture of safety and operational practices that created "glaring disparities between their written safety protocols and their actual practices," the report said.

The Coast Guard opened its highest-level investigation into the event in June 2023, shortly after the implosion occurred.

"There is a need for stronger oversight and clear options for operators who are exploring new concepts outside of the existing regulatory framework," Jason Neubauer, the chair of the Marine Board of Investigation for the Titan submersible, said.

The catastrophic implosion of the Titan submersible garnered worldwide attention. A dayslong search-and-rescue operation was launched after the submersible lost contact during its June 18, 2023 dive.

The implosion killed all five people on board: OceanGate's Rush; Paul-Henri Nargeolet, considered a leading authority on the Titanic; Shahzada and Suleman Dawood, members of one of Pakistan's richest families; and Hamish Harding, a British aviator and explorer.

OceanGate shut down its operations after the implosion. The company worked with the Coast Guard throughout its investigation, an OceanGate spokesperson said Tuesday.

"We again offer our deepest condolences to the families of those who died on June 18, 2023, and to all those impacted by the tragedy," the spokesperson said.

OceanGate was founded in 2009 in Everett, Wash., as a deep-sea exploration company with the goal of expanding people's appreciation and understanding of the ocean. The company took trips to the Titanic wreckage in 2021 and 2022.

OceanGate would cut corners and failed to give priority to safety, former staffers testified last year in a hearing for the Coast Guard's investigation. The former employees said Rush didn't like to be pushed on safety concerns and made most of the company's major engineering decisions.

The Coast Guard report pointed to OceanGate's failure to design, test, analyze and assess the condition of the submersible's carbon-fiber hull. Investigators found the hull had inadequacies ranging from the material, manufacturing, testing and risk-mitigation. Evidence showed the tragedy was most likely due to "a loss of structural integrity of the carbon fiber or glue joint" within the hull, the report said.

The report listed more than a dozen recommendations, including new requirements and regulations to ensure submersibles meet regulatory standards.

The company previously faced criticism from some in the industry for not getting an independent safety verification for the Titan submersible. "Early intervention may have resulted in OceanGate pursuing regulatory compliance or abandoning their plans for TITANIC expeditions," the report said.

Write to Jennifer Calfas at jennifer.calfas@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 05, 2025 12:40 ET (16:40 GMT)

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