Titan Implosion Was Preventable, Scathing Coast Guard Report Reveals [WATCH]

A newly released investigation by the U.S. Coast Guard has concluded that the deadly 2023 Titan submersible implosion was “preventable” and the result of repeated safety failures and ignored warnings by OceanGate, the private company behind the expedition, as reported by The New York Post.

The 300-plus page report, made public Tuesday, is the result of a Marine Board of Investigation probe — the highest level of investigation conducted by the Coast Guard — into the incident that killed all five people aboard the Titan during a deep-sea dive to view the Titanic wreckage off the coast of Canada.

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The Coast Guard Slams OceanGate in Explosive Report!

In a chilling revelation, the U.S. Coast Guard’s 335-page report, released moments ago, exposes the preventable tragedy of the Titan submersible’s implosion, which claimed five lives in… pic.twitter.com/Puuig0Jkn7

— Nicholas Irvine (@_NicholasIrvine) August 5, 2025

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The Titan, operated by Washington-based OceanGate, imploded during its descent in June 2023.

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Among those killed were OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet, British explorer Hamish Harding, and Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood.

According to the report, OceanGate’s safety procedures were “critically flawed.” Investigators cited “glaring disparities” between the company’s written safety protocols and its real-world practices.

The submersible’s design, certification, maintenance, and inspection processes were all deemed insufficient.

“By strategically creating and exploiting regulatory confusion and oversight challenges, OceanGate was ultimately able to operate Titan completely outside of the established deep-sea protocols,” the report states.

#BREAKING: New haunting footage has been released by the U.S. Coast Guard, showing the tail cone of the Titan submersible after the fatal implosion that killed five people in June 2023. Their last messages from the doomed vessel were, ‘All good here… Dropped two [weights] pic.twitter.com/4Bbe6LmMrk

— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) September 18, 2024

Jason Neubauer, chair of the Marine Board of Investigation, said the findings will be used to push for reforms in the private deep-sea exploration sector.

“There is a need for stronger oversight and clear options for operators who are exploring new concepts outside of the existing regulatory framework,” Neubauer said.

The report outlines a pattern of red flags being ignored and even falsified. It also details a “toxic workplace culture,” where employees and contractors were discouraged from raising safety concerns.

Investigators say firings and threats of termination were used to silence internal warnings.

In multiple sections of the report, investigators describe OceanGate as intentionally evading regulatory scrutiny by using its scientific partnerships, favorable reputation, and a lack of cohesive international regulation to avoid oversight.

The Titan submersible disaster could have been prevented, the U.S. Coast Guard said in a report, but OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush ignored safety warnings. https://t.co/FbLY0FUeIL

— Military Times (@MilitaryTimes) August 5, 2025

OceanGate suspended operations in July 2023. Company representatives did not respond to requests for comment following the report’s release.

A major challenge in the investigation was the lack of subpoena power for key pieces of video evidence, as many of the witnesses were not U.S. citizens. This limited the board’s access to materials that might have shed further light on the submersible’s final voyage.

The tragedy has prompted ongoing lawsuits and renewed calls for tighter regulation of private underwater expeditions.

#Gravitas | The U.S. Coast Guard has concluded its two-year investigation into the 2023 Titan submersible tragedy. The final report says the implosion that killed five people was caused primarily by the vessel’s inadequate design@MollyGambhir reports pic.twitter.com/4DL67ngo2Q

— WION (@WIONews) August 5, 2025

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