Titan submersible disaster caused by design flaws, company failures: Final report
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada released its final report Wednesday into the deadly 2023 Titan submersible implosion, blaming the damaged carbon hull and insufficient regulatory oversight as key causes.
“The investigation determined that the as-built properties of the Titan’s carbon fibre cylinder were never validated to ensure they met the theoretical values used in the design process and that the construction and testing of the Titan did not follow standard engineering practices,” the agency stated in its 136-page report.
“As a result, OceanGate did not know for how long the Titan’s pressure hull would remain structurally intact when used repeatedly for dives to the depth of the Titanic,” the report says.
The submersible imploded on its 88th dive, killing all five on board who were on a deep-sea voyage to the Titanic wreckage on June 18, 2023.
TSB Canada also highlighted that broader gaps in international oversight of submersibles contributed to the crash. While the agency said it was aware of Titan’s operations in the country, it did not have oversight of it-- which isn’t uncommon, but the lack of information shared within the Canadian government agencies gave the safety board limited insight into Titan’s operations and the risks they posed.
“When it came to the Titan, critical information existed across multiple federal government organizations, but no one was responsible for connecting the dots. Without a complete picture of the operation, the Titan continued to operate in Canada without regulatory oversight, TSB Chair Yoan Marier said in a press release. “We have been calling for stronger regulatory surveillance in the marine sector for years. Lives are at risk when safety gaps are left unaddressed.”
The safety board has issued six recommendations to address the regulatory oversight, technical standards for submersibles, and the safety management deficiencies.
The Canadian authorities' findings are in line with the key findings from the U.S. Coast Guard's and the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board’s final report into the implosion, released in 2025.
OceanGate did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment on TSB Canada’s report.
Stockton Rush, the co-founder of OceanGate, was among those killed in the June 2023 implosion. Had he survived, the Coast Guard's investigative team said in its final report they would have recommended manslaughter charges to the U.S. Department of Justice.
In addition to Rush, those killed in the implosion included French explorer and Titanic expert Paul Henri Nargeolet, British businessman Hamish Harding, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son, Suleman.
