OceanGate employees were asked to delay paychecks once, ex-admin director says

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD)—The co-founder of a company whose experimental submersible imploded while diving into the deep sea to view the sunk Titanic said he hopes silver linings can be found in the tragedy that cost five people their lives.

Guillermo Sohnlein met the late OceanGate CEO and Co-Founder Stockton Rush in the summer of 2009 and formed OceanGate Inc. together in October of that year. Sohnlein said the original vision was to create four or five deep-diving submersibles that could carry five people and would be available for charter.

The company later transitioned into building submersibles, and in 2013, he left because he felt it “made sense” for Rush to take over the company as it transitioned into the engineering phase, and that was Rush’s expertise.

Next came submersible expert Roy Thomas, a senior engineer for the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), a maritime classification society. According to Thomas, OceanGate never contacted ABS regarding any part of the building and testing process for the Titan, which imploded.

Not only did Thomas go through the typical procedure for classifying submersibles, but he also answered key questions on possible problems with using an experimental carbon fiber hull, which the Titan had.

Thomas said a vehicle with a carbon fiber hull has never been classified to his knowledge.

Former OceanGate Engineering Director Phil Brooks testified to the panelists, explaining to them how the Titan’s real-time monitoring system shows the pilot issues during the dive and reads the data afterward.

Tuesday will open with remarks from Amber Bay, the former OceanGate administration chief. Bay will be followed by Karl Stanley from the Roatan Institute of Deepsea Exploration.

LIVE UPDATES:

10:35 a.m.

Hearing adjourned until 12:30 p.m.

10:33 a.m.

Bay leaves on emotional closing statements:

10:31 a.m.

Other than the strikes, if the weather projected was bad or not having enough crew OceanGate would also cancel dives.

10:27 a.m.

Contractors would be used to fill the empty spots on the crew in 2023, according to Bay.

Renata Rojas took over Bay’s duties on the last two missions of 2023.

10:26 a.m.

Bay said the 19-year-old who perished in the Titan implosion was the youngest to ride on the submersible.

She said the family was not concerned and everyone in the family of the teen was excited for the voyage.

10:16 a.m.

Bay said everyone was “dedicated” on Titan expeditions and no corners were cut.

10:15 a.m.

Bay describes a time that safety concerns were immediately addressed in her experience. You could turn in safety concerns on a piece of paper to the captain on the Horizon Arctic regarding the support vessel.

10:13 a.m.

“Safety concerns were collected” by the operations and engineering directors and Stockton, Bay said. She did not handle safety concerns in her administration capacity.

10:09 a.m.

Bay was only in the sub during a Launch and Recovery Systems test in 2022.

10:06 a.m.

Bay was on the support vessel, Artic Horizon, during dive 65 where the submersible did not make it all the way down to the Titanic.

A crew member left the dive early and the company altogether after a disagreement with Stockton during dive 65, according to Bay.

Bay did not conduct an exit interview with this employee.

9:54 a.m.

The mission director had the authority to cancel dives.

9:50 a.m. – 9:52 a.m.

Bay took a lead roll on the dome closing crew in the 2023 expeditions she participated on. Her training was on the job and she learned from participating in expeditions, she said.

If there were three strikes on or before a dive then the dive was cancelled which happened multiple times, Bay said.

The missions were a shared responsibility overall, but the mission director spearheaded the team.

9:46 a.m.

Bay asked Stockton to remove Wilby after she acted “unprofessionally” during a dive in the comms pit. Bay explains below:

9:44 a.m.

Bay says that when the former contractor Antonella Wilby testified about what she was told by Bay when raising concerns that was not what she “believes” was said.

9:39 a.m.

Bay said there were a few times where OceanGate Inc could not make payroll and Stockton would fund, so the employees could be paid.

One time the company asked employees to forgo or delay there paychecks and in exchange they would get a small amount of interest back at a later date, Bay said.

When this happened Stockton and Bay delayed there paychecks. She said this happened only once.

9:37 a.m.

Bay said she did not understand what Coast Guard Admiral Lockwood’s role was with OceanGate other than being a maritime expert.

9:22 a.m. – 9:24 a.m.

Bay said it was obvious that rough seas made it more difficult to tow the submersible in 2023. The Titan lost a faring while being towed, according to Bay.

The towing platform also took on water during transport which cause the platform to sink, Bay said. It took about 8 hours to correct the issue.

She said it made it more difficult to get on the submersible because it was out in the water and the weather also made it harder.

9:21 a.m.

Bay said the seas were much higher, it was colder and there was a lot more rain during the 2023 expeditions.

9:20 a.m.

The expeditions started earlier in 2023 due to the availability of the Polar Prince.

9:19 a.m.

The Titan was towed behind on a platform for the Polar Prince in the 2023 expeditions, although with the Horizon Artic support vessel, the submersible was transported on board the ship.

9:15 a.m.

The Titan was transported on road shows in the back of a truck bed after the 2021 missions, covered but not in a container, Bay said.

The Titan was trucked to Canada for the 2022 Titanic expeditions.

9:12 a.m.

Stockton and a specialized team would sit down and determine the risk index for each dive the night before. There was an open forum for crew members who could address issues they saw and Stockton would go through detailing how the index was determined, according to Bay.

9:08 a.m. – 9:10 a.m.

Bay describes her role on expeditions and how the team complied with 2021 Canadian COVID restrictions:

9:07 a.m.

Bay was on mission 1-3 on the Titanic expeditions in 2023, she said. She said her main role was setting up specialists with there gear, stocking snacks, just taking general care of the crews/passengers.

She was on all the Titanic expeditions in 2021 and 2022, Bay said.

9:05 a.m.

Bay said the Horizon Artic support vessel was utilized in 2021 and 2022 because it was in the price point and the team was supportive, according to Bay.

The Polar Prince was chosen to be used because things had shifted as COVID passed.

9:01 a.m.

The due dates for deposits from mission specialists was the same time payments needed to be to fund the sub, according to Bay.

The mission specialist agreement states they also have to pay for taxes, fees and gratuities.

8:54 a.m.

Recess called.

8:53 a.m.

The company would use mission specialists money to fund there expeditions. There was an urgency to deliver on what the company offered, Bay said, but not a desperation.

She said there was checks in balances in place to not risk specialists safety.

8:52 a.m.

The dives did not always make it to the Titanic, Bay said.

8:50 a.m.

The mission specialist were promised the opportunity for a dive, meals provided, exposure to content experts and the promise of participating in a dive, Bay said.

If a dive was unable to complete, the team would reschedule. Mission specialists were not offered refunds, but credits that allowed them to come back.

This was outlined beforehand in what the specialists agreed to.

8:47 a.m.

Bay said the company originally set the mission specialists price around $109,000 and with added analytic data determining how much it would cost to run the ship it was raised to $150,000. The price was then raised again to $250,000.

8:45 a.m.

The company was marketed toward wealthy explorers, Bay said.

8:44 a.m.

Fund were transferred through wire transfer and for the purpose of developing the submersible.

8:41 a.m.

Bay said Stockton transferred money from OceanGate Inc to OceanGate Exepeditions with the purpose of funding dives. She said OceanGate Expeditions was a way for private citizens to explore the deep sea, according to what she was told.

8:39 a.m.

Bay breaks down the company when she began. In 2023, the company had 13 to 14 employees, Bay said.

8:38 a.m.

Bay began with OceanGate in Dec. 2018 in an administrative assistant role.

8:36 a.m.

Bay details professional background:

8:35 a.m.

Ambery Bay called to the witness stand.

8:30 a.m.

Hearing in session.

—