OceanGate's catastrophe: New details revealed about Titan Submersible tragic implosion

Following the tragic incident of OceanGate’s titan submersible implosion in June 2023, researchers provided a final report on the actual cause of the disaster.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) blames flawed engineering as the primary cause of the catastrophic incident that killed all five passengers on board, including OceanGate’s CEO, Stockton Rush.

The U.S. NTSB released a report on Wednesday, October 15, 2025, stating that the vessel was built with poor or flawed engineering, which failed to meet safety standards and ultimately led to its fatal implosion.

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

The board informed that the vessel had been damaged after multiple dives before the implosion happened.

Investigators said the Titan suffered “delamination damage” during earlier dives, which went undetected because the company’s monitoring system and analysis were “flawed.”

The NTSB report found that OceanGate's design and testing process failed to meet requirements, and operational changes, such as storage and towing, further weakened the vessel's hull.

In addition to that, investigators also found that the vessel's operating company did not adequately test Titan or know its actual strength and durability before starting the marine journey.

The report stated that the wreckage of the Titan would likely have been found sooner if OceanGate had followed standard emergency response guidance, which would have saved "time and resources even though a rescue was not possible in this case."

Furthermore, the NTSB recommended that the US Coast Guard commission a study on how "pressure-vessels" are assessed for human occupancy and urged the firm to develop new safety rules and advocate for mandatory global standards through the International Maritime Organization (IMO).