TitanPassengers ‘Had No Idea’ an Implosion Was Coming in Their Final Moments, Former OceanGate Contractor Says

Mar. 15, 2025

The ‘Titan’ victims: Hamish Harding; Stockton Rush; Paul-Henri Nargeolet; Suleman Dawood; Shahzada Dawood.Photo:JOEL SAGET,HANDOUT/Dirty Dozen Productions/OceanGat/AFP via Getty Images

JOEL SAGET,HANDOUT/Dirty Dozen Productions/OceanGat/AFP via Getty Images

A former OceanGate contractor says he believes theTitanpassengers “had no idea” an implosion was coming in their final moments.

Fifteen months after the22-foot-long vesselimploded during a journey to theTitanicwreckage,killing all five people on board, Tym Cattersontestified in front of the U.S. Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigationhow he thought the passengers spent their last moments. His testimony was part of what is expected to be atwo-week hearing into the tragedy.

“What I found and what I feel is that the implosion happened instantaneously,” said Catterson, who was there when theTitanbegan its dive from thePolar Princeoff the coast of Canada around on June 18, 2023.

Catterson said that he believed it wasn’t the viewport (also known as windows or portholes) that “failed because there [were] no shards there.” He believes the failure “happened at the forward glue line at the ring,” which would have had to “happen extraordinarily fast.”

“Which means the people in there, they had no idea this was coming. I just want to make sure you let the public know nobody was suffering in there,” Chatterson testified. “As a matter of fact, they were probably happy to say they were all waiting to see theTitanicwhen this happened.”

‘Titan’ submersible.EyePress News/Shutterstock

EyePress News/Shutterstock

The five passengers who were on the vessel and died are OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, 61, British Pakistani billionaireShahzada Dawood, 48, and his son Suleman Dawood, 19, British billionaireHamish Harding, 58, andTitanicexpertPaul-Henri Nargeolet, 77.

“I basically went and got something to eat. I’d [been] out there on the water since four that day,” he recalled. “I was cold and ready to get warmed up and have some breakfast, so that’s what I did. I went and had breakfast.”

He said he then went back to thePolar Princeand took a shower until he found out that theTitanhad lost contact with the surface at about quarter to ten.

‘Titan’ submersible.Xinhua/Shutterstock

Xinhua/Shutterstock

“We did everything that we could to try to ascertain whether it was just a communications issue or something else,” he said, noting that “that’s when I learned that both the tracking and the communications stopped.”

After about 15 minutes, theTitanresponded, saying they “lost system oand [sic] chat settings" – but after being asked about their status again, theTitanresponded “yes” and “all good here” at 10:15 a.m.

At 10:47, at a depth of about 3,350 meters and a pressure of 4,900 lbs. per square inch, the Titan messages that they “dropped two wts,” referring to their weights — and contact was then lost almost immediately, at 10:47:32 a.m., according to the Coast Guard.

The search for the missing sub began shortly after the vessel “lost all communication” with the Canadian expedition vessel Polar Prince “approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes” into itsdive on the morning of Sunday, June 18, 2023, said U.S. Coast Guard Captain Jamie Frederick at a previouspress conference.

On Thursday, June 22, 2023, it was thenannouncedTitandebris had been found 1,600 ft. from theTitanicbow, andOceanGate announced that the five people onboard the vessel had died.

OceanGate has since suspended its operations amid the ongoing investigation. Accordingto the Associated Press, the company says it has cooperated fully with the government probes.

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Attorney Jane Shvets, representing OceanGate at the hearing, read a brief opening statement, saying they “offer our deepest condolences to the families and loved ones, among them those here today, of those who died on June 18, 2023.”

The hearing that began Monday “will review testimony from technical experts, crew members, and other relevant parties, and will examine evidence related to the submersible’s design, operation, and safety protocols,” the Coast Guard has said. Afterward, investigators will submit a final report. The National Transportation Safety Board will also issue its own findings.

source: people.com