U.S. Coast Guard says Titan Submersible hearing is the “highest level of investigation”

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD)- It’ll be a busy next couple of weeks at the Charleston County Council Chambers, where people from around the world will be listening to and testifying in the Titan Submersible hearing.

The Coast Guard called this their highest level of investigation, and this morning they held a press conference ahead of the first day of the hearings tomorrow.

On June 18, 2023, one of OceanGate’s submersibles lost contact just an hour and 45 minutes into an expedition to explore the Titanic.

The submersible, Titan, had imploded, killing the 5 people on board.

The incident shocked the nation and questions on how this could happen began to come to the forefront, but answers are now within reach…

“Over the past 15 months, our team has worked continuously, in close coordination with multiple federal agencies, international partners and industry experts to uncover the facts surrounding this incident,” US Coast Guard Chief of Office of Investigations, Jason Neubauer said.

Neubauer said this is one of the most complex cases they have had in a long time, “It stems from the offshore nature of the incident. The depth at which it occurred. That created many challenges for recovering evidence from a depth and then maintaining it in a state where it can be forensically tested.”

The purpose of the hearing is for the Coast Guard to hear from key witnesses, uncover the facts, and then present their findings, to make sure this tragedy doesn’t happen again.

However, there is a chance they find criminality.

“We are charged to also detect misconduct or negligence by credentialed mariners, and if there’s any detection of a criminal act then we will present our findings to the DOJ,” Neubauer said.

And some may be wondering.. Why did the coast guard choose the lwocuntry to hold the hearings?

“Charleston is a neutral location. We have witnesses coming from around the world. It’s also a city that’s been closely connected to the Coast Guard,” Neubauer said.

The hearing will start at 8:30 a.m. on Monday and will last 2 weeks.