Titan was 'abomination of a sub' testifies former OceanGate employee

Former OceanGate employee David Lochridge said the Titan submersible was an "abomination of a sub" during a hearing Tuesday during which he divulged damning testimony in regards to the vessel's structural integrity.

The second day of the hearing, held by the US Coast Guard in South Carolina , opened with a report by Lochridge detailing the state of the vessel's hull after a full inspection . "For me, this was my opportunity, being asked to do it prior to the sub being handed over, an abomination of a sub , this was my opportunity to raise everything that I had seen during the build and the final build of Titan."

He explained how the viewport and elements of the dome ceilings did not follow typical design practices.

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He continued saying he was "appalled" by the O-ring seal on the roof. He continued: "There was so many laminations, so many voids. The imperfections were incredible. There was glue runs everywhere. And that's a red flag."

The former operations direction dug into all his gripes with the design of the doomed submersible. He described the hull, which was apparently damaged by lightning a few years prior to the 2023 expedition, was "porous paper. It was disgusting," he told the panel.

The second hull was no better as the company just recycled old parts to make cheap, unreliable new ones. Lochridge suggested the vessel was just a flimsy sub comprised of parts used over and over again.

"Everything was reused," he said. "They reused these domes. They reused these ceiling faces. They reused the acrylic. They reused the interior. Everything was reused. It's all cost."

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Lochridge is one of the most anticipated witnesses to appear before a commission trying to determine what caused the Titan to implode en route to the wreckage of the Titanic last year, killing all five on board. His testimony echoed that of other former employees Monday, one of whom described OceanGate head Stockton Rush as volatile and difficult to work with.

"The whole idea behind the company was to make money," Lochridge said. "There was very little in the way of science." Rush was among the five people who died in the implosion. OceanGate owned the Titan and brought it on several dives to the Titanic going back to 2021.

His testimony began a day after other witnesses painted a picture of a troubled company that was impatient to get its unconventionally designed craft into the water. The accident set off a worldwide debate about the future of private undersea exploration.