NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — An engineer with the National Transportation Safety Board says the carbon fiber hull of the experimental submersible that imploded en route to the wreckage of the Titanic had imperfections dating to the manufacturing process.
Don Kramer also testified to the Coast Guard Wednesday that the material behaved differently after a loud bang was heard on one of the dives the year before the tragedy.
The co-founder of the submersible’s owner OceanGate, co-founder Stockton Rush, was among the five people who died when the submersible imploded in June 2023.
Titan’s unusual design subjected it to scrutiny in the undersea exploration community.
Kramer said hull pieces recovered from the ocean floor after the tragedy showed substantial delamination of the layers of carbon fiber.
By PATRICK WHITTLE and DAVID SHARP, The Associated Press
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