Titan sub hearings live: OceanGate CEO said he would ‘buy a congressman’ to make problems vanish, witness says

The second witness of Friday’s hearing has wrapped up their testimony. The Marine Board has wrapped up for lunch and will return at approximately 1.30pm ET.

US Navy intelligence provided to the Coast Guard detailed that noises were heard from where they believed Titan’s was located, Captain Jamie Frederick testified.

The intel was initially “classified” and not revealed to the victims’ families or the media.

Based on intel from the Navy, the Coast Guard couldn’t confirm “100 per cent that it was an implosion”.

At the same time, “we were receiving conflicting evidence from P-3 [aircraft] and sonar that there were knocking noises,” Frederick testified.

Captain Jamie Frederick was show a document titled “Exhibit 64” by the panel: a line of questioning the Coast Guard’s panel had asked the master of the Polar Prince (the vessel Titan was launched from), during their evidence gathering stage in October 16, 2023 (months after the implosion).

“Did you or crew members hear or see anything after communications were lost with Titan that could have indicated that the submersible had imploded,” the document read.

The Polar Prince master answered: “With the benefit of hindsight, I now believe that I felt the Polar Prince shudder at around the time communications were reportedly lost, but at the time we thought nothing of it… it was slight.”

That detail would have “absolutely” changed the search and rescue efforts, Frederick said. The Coast Guard was not alerted of that information, he said.

“That’s the first I’ve seen… To me personally that would be unconscionable that they wouldn’t share that with the unified command,” Frederick testified.

“It’s a piece of info we didn’t have,” he continued. “It’s information that could have had a drastic impact on the search efforts.”

Captain Jamie Frederick of the US Coast Guard, who ran the search and rescue mission into the missing Titan sub, addressed whether he believed OceanGate provided all available information during the search.

“There is so much information that has been discussed over the past two weeks,” Frederick said in reference to the Titan Marine Board of Investigation’s two-week long inquiry.

“We didn’t have a fraction of that.”

He continued: “We certainly didn’t have the level of information that has been brought forth.”

Captain Jamie Frederick of the US Coast Guard detailed the moment he learned of noises coming from the location where Titan disappeared.

“Really as soon as the P-3s started flying – so Monday June 19. A couple things we did there: we investigated the noises with the Polar Prince (Titan’s mothership from which it was launched) and their sonar ability.” He added there were additional P-3 flights dispatched.

Data was packaged together and handed over to the US Navy, Frederick testified.

By either Tuesday 20 June, 2023, or Wednesday 21 June, 2023, the Navy sent back a report, which concluded that “sounds were not coming in regular intervals” after it was believed they were being made in 30 minute intervals, he testified.

Frederick added that the Navy said the noises were “not human in nature”. He first shared information with families before alerting the media.

“In general terms the search conditions were good,” testified Captain Jamie Frederick, who was in charge of the US Coast Guard’s search and rescue mission to find the Titan sub.

“We weren’t hampered severely by weather,” he added, but noted that “aircraft [was] limited to 500ft ceiling at certain points” during their search.

There were no Coast Guard staff shortages at the time, Frederick testified. All S&R equipment was in good working order, he added.

Captain Jamie Frederick of the US Coast Guard said there were “logistical challenges” in finding and sending a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to the area Titan disappeared.

“What we’re looking for is a 6,000m ROV,” he said. “Those resources are limited and they need to be available, and available quickly.”

OceanGate reached out to Pelagic Research Services – who eventually provided an ROV, Frederick testified.

The Coast Guard (with support from the United States Transportation Command) chartered three C-17 Globemaster aircraft to New York to pick up the ROV. In total it amounted to 70,000lbs of equipment, posing an extreme “logistical challenge,” Frederick testified.

Captain Jamie Frederick of the US Coast Guard detailed the unprecedented situation that the Titan search and rescue mission brought with it.

He said that in the entirety of his 30 year Coast Guard career, most of which was conducting search and rescue missions, he’d never been deployed on a subsurface mission.

Frederick testified that he isn’t aware of any other subsurface S&R missions conducted by the Coast Guard before.

“The case is challenging for many reasons,” Captain Jamie Frederick of the US Coast Guard began.

He noted the distance off-shore, the lack of presence from the Canadian Coast Guard initially and a 3,000 meter ROV (remotely operated vehicle) depth.

Frederick added that the US Coast Guard sent out C-130 Hercules aircraft, with the New York International Guard and Canadian Air Force also sending out planes. As Search and Rescue Coordinator, Frederick could direct Canadian assets.

“On Sunday… we received a call into the district command center at 17.40,” Captain Jamie Frederick testified of the moment Titan disappeared on June 18, 2023. “It was a report for an overdue submersible at the side of the Titanic.”

“An overdue vessel, in the simplest terms, means you have confirmed departure from a location, and confirmed non-departure – that would put you in the distressed phase.”

He continued: “You’re talking about a multidimensional search: subsurface and surface.”

A Coast Guard crew flew to the area to conduct a surface search, Frederick said. The US Navy was probed for available resources, which they did not have to hand, he added.