During a recent hearing, it was revealed that one of the last messages sent by the five-member crew of the Titan submersible before its tragic implosion was “all good here.” Investigators from the US Coast Guard noted that this message was part of the final communications with the Titan’s mother ship before they lost contact permanently.

For the first time, the hearing also displayed an image captured by a remotely operated vehicle, showing the Titan’s tail cone resting on the ocean floor after the implosion. The deep-sea vessel had been descending toward the Titanic wreck for less than two hours before the incident occurred in June 2023.

British explorer Hamish Harding, veteran French diver Paul Henri Nargeolet, the British-Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman were inside the submersible when it imploded.

Coast Guard officials launched a two-week inquiry aimed at uncovering the details of the tragedy and providing recommendations to avert similar events in the future. Investigators recreated the Titan’s journey, highlighting text exchanges between the submersible and the Polar Prince, its support ship.

The Titan began its dive at 09:17 local time, with support staff aboard the Polar Prince inquiring about the submersible’s depth, weight, and its visual connection to the ship. While communications were inconsistent, about an hour into the dive, the Titan reported, “all good here.” Its final message, sent at 10:47 local time from a depth of 3,346 meters, indicated that it had released two weights. After that, all communication ceased.

Officials provided a historical overview of the Titan, pointing out that its hull had not undergone third-party testing and had been exposed to the elements while in storage. They also highlighted significant issues the submersible had faced during previous expeditions.

Between 2021 and 2022, it encountered 118 equipment problems over 13 dives to the Titanic, including a front dome detaching, thruster failures at 3,500 meters, and an incident where its batteries failed, leaving passengers trapped for 27 hours.

OceanGate, the company responsible for the craft, has faced scrutiny over its design, safety protocols, and regulatory compliance. Tony Nissen, a former engineering director at OceanGate, described the evidence he reviewed as “disturbing… both professionally and personally.”

He stated that Stockton Rush, OceanGate’s late CEO and a passenger on the Titan, had the final say on most engineering decisions and was challenging to collaborate with. “Stockton would fight for what he wanted, and he wouldn’t relent,” Nissen remarked. “Most people would eventually back down, leading to a ‘death by a thousand cuts.’”

Following the incident, OceanGate suspended all exploration and commercial activities. The company currently has no full-time employees but plans to send a lawyer to the ongoing inquiry.

The hearing marks the beginning of the first public stage of an investigation that has already lasted 15 months. Unanswered questions regarding the Titan’s ill-fated dive have sparked ongoing discussions about safety and regulations in private undersea exploration.

The Coast Guard’s Marine Board of Investigations (MBI) is expected to hear from up to ten former OceanGate employees, including co-founder Guillermo Sohnlein, as well as experts in marine safety. According to MBI Chairman Jason Neubauer, this inquiry represents one of the highest levels of investigation into US marine incidents, with fewer than one such case occurring annually.