Oceangate’s Chief Engineer testifies during hearings regarding the implosion of the Titan sub

“You wanted me to buy off on the idea of going to the Titanic and I told him ‘No’,” said Tony Nissen, Oceangate’s Chief of Engineering.

That was just one of the statements from the Chief of Engineering on Monday morning during hearings on the implosion of the Everett Company’s underwater submersible. Today marked the first day of what is expected to be a two-week hearing on the causes of the implosion.

Nissen gave his testimony this morning, painting a picture of a corporate culture that appears to have ignored safety concerns, flawed designs, and even recommendations from its own employees. The former chief engineer said company leaders pushed ahead with developing the Titan submersible despite some major issues.

Nissen started his testimony today with a simple statement, instead of laying out his credentials, which is what board members asked him to do, “I just wanted to express my condolences to those lost directly - I know up to June 2019 and there’s some things that I saw in this presentation that are disturbing.”

Nissen quickly admitted that giving his testimony and talking about the tragic fatal implosion would be difficult, “I didn’t think I’d need a break but I wasn’t kidding when I said I might need one... when I was hired on I had no idea that they were going to the Titanic, I was never told that.”

And Nissen was asked point blank by one of the board members about his ability to affect the decisions on the submersible, “Coast Guard Board: ‘As the Director of Engineering did you make all Engineering decisions?’ Tony Nissen: ‘No’.”

Despite being the company’s top engineer, Nissen said decisions about the submersible’s carbon fiber structure were made by the company’s CEO Stockton Rush; and described a culture where Rush rarely gave in on his vision, “Most people would just eventually back down from Stockton it was almost death by a thousand cuts…

When the Coast Guard Board asked, “Was that Mr. Rush’s management technique just to you or throughout with others that you witnessed at Oceangate?”, Nissen responded, “Stockton I don’t… I’m struggling to find the professional words to able to put it - I’m an old navy diver there’s a bunch of words I could use.”

The Titan submersible imploded on its way to the wreckage of the Titanic in June 2023 - everyone on board that craft died, including Stockton Rush.

Despite creating a damning picture, Nissen believed Rush wanted to get the sub tested and inspected, but concerns were often overruled, “Stockton and I argued about it a lot… but pretty much if the tech decision for, let’s say the technical decisions for the case itself, the carbon fiber structure, was Brian Spencer (Spencer Composites CEO) I could raise the alarms all I want, but Brian Spencer would look at Stockton - who would say that is what we got, this is what we’re going with.”

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