“Titan” Submersible Catastrophe was Caused by Design Flaws and Company Failures Says Damning Final Report

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) issued its final report into the 2023 disaster on Wednesday, June 17

NEED TO KNOW

• The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) released its final report on the deadly 2023 Titan submersible implosion on June 17

• Per the report, the Titan submersible’s carbon fiber hull was found to have structural defects and lacked proper testing for repeated deep dives
• Investigators criticized OceanGate, the U.S.-based company behind the expedition, for ignoring safety risks and highlighted gaps in international oversight of submersible operations

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) has released its final report on the deadly 2023 Titan submersible implosion, citing the vessel's damaged carbon fiber hull and insufficient regulatory oversight as key causes. 

In its 136-page report, the agency stated that OceanGate, the U.S.-based company behind the expedition to the wreck of the Titanic on which all 5 Titan passengers died, was overcome by “groupthink” and “confirmation bias” and failed to understand the profound risks confronting its largely untested craft.

TSB said that the properties of the Titan's carbon fiber cylinder were “never validated.” It added that “the construction and testing of the Titan did not follow standard engineering practices,” noting that the design was “novel.”  

Inspectors were able to examine offcuts of the material used to construct the hull and found structural defects that would weaken the craft's integrity, according to the report. The TSB also found that while OceanGate did test the final craft at a depth equivalent to that of the wreck of the Titanic, there was no testing done on how repeatedly descending to that depth would weaken the Titan.

“As a result, OceanGate did not know for how long the Titan's pressure hull would remain structurally intact when used repeatedly for dives to the depth of the Titanic,” per the report.

The agency also highlighted gaps in “international oversight” of submersibles such as the Titan. TSB said that while it was aware of OceanGate's business in Canada, it did not have oversight of it, and that gave the safety board limited insight into Titan's operations and the risks they posed.

“No one was responsible for connecting the dots,” the report asserted.

In a release, TSB Chair Yoan Marier called for “stronger regulatory surveillance in the marine sector,” noting the agency had been asking for it “for years.”

“Lives are at risk when safety gaps are left unaddressed,” Marier added.

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The TSB also pointed to a number of instances in which the craft might have sustained damage, including when it collided with the port bow of the Titanic in 2022 and a loud bang when the Titan was surfacing from another dive in the following days. The craft was also exposed to the elements for nearly a year between 2022 and 2023.

The report stated, “Every time a structure is stressed, small damages may accumulate. The higher the imposed stress on the structure, the more quickly these damages will accumulate.”

In its 2025 final report into the Titan disaster, the U.S. Coast Guard's investigative team said that they would have recommended to the U.S. Department of Justice that Stockton Rush, the co-founder of OceanGate, face manslaughter charges had he survived the disaster. 

The report stated that “There was no precedent for diving a human-occupied carbon fibre submersible to the deep ocean, and [OceanGate] acknowledged both internally and publicly that its operations involved risk.”

Titan, a 22-foot-long carbon fiber submersible, attempted to reach the wreckage of the Titanic ocean liner below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean in June 2023. Nearly two hours after departing, all communications were lost, prompting a frantic international search. 

Onboard was Hamish Harding, 58, a British explorer and pilot; Shahzada Dawood, 48, a British-Pakistani businessman, and his son Suleman, 19; Paul-Henri Nargeolet, a leading authority on the Titanic wreck site; and Stockton Rush, the founder of OceanGate.

Four days after losing contact, investigators found the wreck of the vessel 400 miles off the coast of Newfoundland. They concluded all passengers died instantly when the structure imploded near the wreckage of the Titanic.

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