'All good here': One of the last texts sent from doomed Titan sub

After days of searching, wreckage from the submersible was recovered from the ocean floor near the Titanic Credit: PA

"All good here" was one of the last messages sent from the Titan submersible before it tragically imploded, killing five people during a dive to the Titanic wreck, a hearing has revealed.

On Monday, a Marine Board of Investigation hearing, the highest level of marine casualty inquiry by the US Coast Guard, presented a visual re-creation of the Titan sub's journey before its fatal implosion on June 18 2023.

The crew had been texting their support ship above, the Polar Prince, as they descended into the North Atlantic.

The hearing in Charleston, South Carolina, was told that contact was lost after an exchange of messages about the sub’s depth and weight.

The deep-sea vessel was on an expedition to the Titanic wreckage around 435 miles south of St John’s, Newfoundland Credit: OceanGate Expeditions/PA

The Polar Prince sent several messages asking if the Titan could still see the sunken Titanic.

One of the sub’s final replies, as communication became patchy, was: "All good here."

British adventurer Hamish Harding and father and son Shahzada and Suleman Dawood were killed on board the sub, alongside French national Paul-Henri Nargeolet.

Stockton Rush, who was the chief executive of OceanGate Expeditions - which ran the trip - was also killed. The company suspended business after the incident.

Tony Nissen, head engineer for OceanGate at the hearing. Credit: AP

In other testimonies, Coast Guard officials said the Titan was left exposed to the weather for seven months in 2022 and 2023 before its fatal dive.

They also revealed that the sub’s hull was never inspected by third parties, as is standard procedure.

The hearing's first witness, OceanGate's former engineering director, Tony Nissen, said Rush could be difficult to work for and was often concerned with costs and project schedules.

He added that Rush would fight for what he wanted, saying “most people would eventually just back down to Stockton".

Jason Neubauer of the Coast Guard Office of Investigations, who led the hearing, said: "There are no words to ease the loss endured by the families impacted by this tragic incident.

“But we hope that this hearing will help shed light on the cause of the tragedy and prevent anything like this from happening again.”

The investigation will hear from 24 witnesses before it concludes in about two weeks, and recommendations will be submitted to the Coast Guard's commandant.

Scheduled to appear later in the hearing are OceanGate co-founder Guillermo Sohnlein, former operations director David Lochridge, and former scientific director Steven Ross.

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Several Coast Guard officials, scientists, and government and industry representatives are also set to appear.

The National Transportation Safety Board is also conducting its own investigation.

The deep-sea vessel was on an expedition to the Titanic wreckage about 435 miles south of St John’s, Newfoundland, when it lost contact with the tour operator an hour and 45 minutes into the two-hour descent. The vessel was reported missing eight hours after communication was lost.

After days of searching, wreckage from the submersible was recovered from the ocean floor near the Titanic.

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