Guillermo Sohnlein, co-founder of OceanGate, is set to provide testimony in the investigation into the Titan submersible explosion incident.
The Marine Board of Inquiry's two-week examination commenced on September 16 and is due to restart on Monday, with ex-OceanGate co-founder Guillermo Sohnlein, who parted ways with the company in January 2013, set to offer testimony, as per the Coast Guard's scheduled hearings.
In 2009, Sohnlein and CEO Stockton Rush established the Washington state-based firm responsible for creating the 23,000-pound submersible. Rush, the submersible's pilot, tragically lost his life beneath the North Atlantic Ocean in June 2023, along with four other Titan passengers as they ventured to explore the Titanic's wreckage.
Sohnlein was not involved in the Titan's construction, CNN previously reported.
In addition to Sohnlein, businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son, Suleman Dawood; businessman Hamish Harding; and French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet also lost their lives in what authorities determined was a “severe collapse”.
The submersible lost contact with its support vessel, the Polar Prince, an hour and 45 minutes into its dive on June 18, 2023. The wreckage, situated several hundred yards from the Titanic, was discovered on June 22 following an extensive search, according to the Marine Board of Inquiry, which serves as the Coast Guard's highest level of investigation.
The incident marked the first time a manned deep-ocean submersible had ever experienced a “catastrophic collapse”, as per industry experts.
Testimony from the previous week's hearings portrayed Sohnlein's former company and business partner as placing profit above science and safety, while numerous warnings were disregarded before the Titan's collapse.
Sohnlein told CNN’s Anderson Cooper last year that safety was a top priority for OceanGate and Rush, whom he described as a “highly competent risk manager” on CNN This Morning.
“I believe that he believed that every innovation he developed, whether technologically or within the dive operations, was designed to both broaden the scope of human exploration of the oceans while simultaneously enhancing the safety of those engaged in it,” Sohnlein said.
However, last week's testimonies, including one from key witness and former OceanGate director of marine operations David Lochridge, painted a different picture of Rush and his approach to safety.
Lochridge, who described the company as one that prioritized "making money" and offered "little in the way of science," testified that he raised safety concerns regarding OceanGate's operations in 2018 and had "no confidence whatsoever" in the Titan's construction.
“It was all smoke and mirrors,” Lochridge said of the company from which he was fired in 2018. “All the social media about all these past expeditions. They always had issues with their expeditions.”
On Thursday, a marine scientist who served as a crew member aboard the Titan on its fourth mission last year, testified that the doomed submersible had suffered a platform malfunction just six days before it collapsed.
Steven Ross, who claimed the Coast Guard did not inspect the Titan in 2021, 2022, or 2023, stated that the platform malfunction on June 12, piloted by Rush, caused the five passengers onboard at the time to collide against the submersible's rear for at least an hour. The dive was aborted, according to Ross, who reported no injuries.
Others last week testified that Rush, an aerospace engineer, intentionally breached regulations while commanding an experimental submersible that had not undergone comprehensive testing, in an effort to appeal to wealthy tourists and researchers seeking deep-sea adventures.
Former OceanGate engineering contractor Antonella Wilby testified on Friday that her safety concerns about the Titan were disregarded, and the submersible's navigation and acoustic communication systems failed during a 2022 expedition.
“No aspect of the operation seemed safe to me,” said Wilby, who was later removed from the communications and navigation teams. “When you answer specific questions with, ‘That’s just what the company founder wants,’ instead of actual design decisions and data and analysis, it was a red flag to me.”
Roy Thomas, a senior principal engineer with the American Bureau of Shipping, and Phil Brooks, a former OceanGate engineering director, are also scheduled to testify on Monday.
CNN’s Dakin Andone, Cindy Von Quednow, Isabelle Chapman, and Curt Devine contributed to this report.
In light of the Coast Guard's investigation, Guillermo Sohnlein, who is no longer associated with OceanGate, expressed his belief in Rush's commitment to safety and innovation during his time with the company. (from the text)
Despite the Maritime Board of Inquiry's findings suggesting that profit and safety concerns were not properly balanced by OceanGate, Sohnlein, during his interview with CNN, described Rush as a highly competent risk manager. (using the words: us)
