Lead Engineer’s Testimony Reveals Pressure to Rush Underwater Vessel to Completion.
The lead engineer involved in the development of the ill-fated Titan submersible has revealed that he felt “100%” pressure to get the vessel operational. Testifying at a Coast Guard hearing into the sub’s deadly implosion, Tony Nissen detailed his clashes with company CEO Stockton Rush over what he perceived as his boss’s reckless push to launch the high-tech underwater vehicle prematurely.
Nissen was asked by investigators if he felt pressure to launch the titanium and carbon fiber vessel as the linchpin of Rush’s OceanGate deep-sea dive business, and responded affirmatively, stating “100.
Rush and four others — adventurer Hamish Harding, Titanic explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, multimillionaire Shahzada Dawood, and his teen son Suleman Dawood — perished when the craft imploded under immense water pressure on June 18, 2023.
Former OceanGate contractor Tym Catterson later testified that the fateful dive appeared to be a perfect day after previous attempts had been thwarted by poor weather conditions. In the wake of the disaster, accounts of alleged negligence on Rush’s part have emerged, including cutting corners on safety measures for both the vessel and the business itself.
Nissen recalled how he refused to enter the submersible several years ago, telling Rush at the time that he did not trust the level of expertise among the staff members assisting in its operation. He also recounted a 2019 incident when he halted one of the sub’s trips to the Titanic, informing Rush that the vessel was “not working like we thought it would.” Nissen was fired later that year.
The ongoing hearings have been accompanied by an unsettling photograph emerging of the Titan’s detached tail cone resting on the ocean floor following the tragic incident.
