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Titan sub imploded on way to Titanic wreck because of faulty engineering: final report

In addition to failing to meet strength and durability requirements, the vessel was not adequately tested by OceanGate, the vessel’s owner

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An undated image shows the Titan submersible during a descent. Photo: OceanGate Expeditions via AFP
Associated Press

Faulty engineering led to the implosion of an experimental submersible that killed five people on the way to the wreck of the Titanic, the US National Transportation Safety Board concluded in a report on Wednesday.

The NTSB made the statement in its final report on the hull failure and implosion of the Titan submersible in June 2023. Everyone on board the submersible died instantly in the North Atlantic when Titan suffered a catastrophic implosion as it descended to the wreck.

The NTSB report states that the faulty engineering of the Titan “resulted in the construction of a carbon fibre composite pressure vessel that contained multiple anomalies and failed to meet necessary strength and durability requirements”.

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It also stated that OceanGate, the owner of the Titan, failed to adequately test the Titan and was unaware of its true durability.

The report also said the Titan would probably have been found sooner had OceanGate followed standard guidance for emergency response, and that would have saved “time and resources even though a rescue was not possible in this case”.

00:55

‘All good here’: last message from doomed Titan sub revealed by investigators

‘All good here’: last message from doomed Titan sub revealed by investigators

The NTSB report dovetails with a US coastguard report released in August that described the Titan implosion as preventable.

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