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PORTLAND, Maine: Faulty engineering was to blame for the catastrophic implosion of the Titan submersible that killed five people on a 2023 expedition to the wreck of the Titanic, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) concluded in its final report released on August 15.

The report found that design flaws in the submersible’s carbon fiber composite hull led to its failure under extreme pressure in the North Atlantic. According to the NTSB, the Titan’s construction “contained multiple anomalies and failed to meet necessary strength and durability requirements.” The agency also determined that OceanGate, the company that built and operated the vessel, did not adequately test the submersible or understand its structural limits before deploying it.

The Titan imploded on June 18, 2023, while descending toward the Titanic wreck, instantly killing everyone on board. Those killed included OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, French underwater explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, British businessman Hamish Harding, and Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman.

The NTSB report also criticized OceanGate’s emergency response protocols, saying the company’s failure to follow standard procedures delayed the discovery of the wreckage and wasted valuable time and resources, even though rescue was impossible once the implosion occurred.

Its findings align with a separate U.S. Coast Guard investigation released earlier in August, which described the disaster as “entirely preventable.” That report found “critically flawed” safety procedures and “glaring disparities” between OceanGate’s stated safety standards and its actual practices.

The NTSB recommended that the Coast Guard convene a panel of experts to study submersibles and other human-occupied pressure vehicles and use the findings to develop new safety regulations. Current rules for small passenger vessels, it said, allowed OceanGate to operate “in an unsafe manner.” The board also urged the Coast Guard to share the results widely with the growing private deep-sea exploration industry.

OceanGate, based in Washington state, suspended operations in July 2023 and later dissolved. The company declined to comment on the new report, though it had previously expressed condolences to the victims’ families.

The investigation also shed light on OceanGate’s internal culture. One former technician told investigators he left after warning against labeling paying passengers as “mission specialists.” According to the report, CEO Stockton Rush dismissed concerns about regulatory oversight, allegedly saying that if the Coast Guard “became a problem,” he would “buy himself a congressman and make it go away.”

The Titan’s final dive began on the morning of June 18, 2023. Two hours later, contact with its support ship was lost, triggering a massive international search that ended in tragedy.