A former OceanGate mission specialist who was on the Polar Prince when the Titan submersible imploded killing all five people on board defended deep-sea exploration as she wrapped up her testimony before U.S. Coast Guard hearings into the Titan disaster earlier today.
Renata Rojas fought through tears as she described the last time she saw Stockton Rush, Paul Henri Nargeolet and the three paying customers for the last time.
She also presented a different picture of a dramatic exchange between CEO Stockton Rush and former OceanGate Director of Marine Operations, David Lochridge in 2016. Lochridge described a tense exchange between the two men after Rush, who was controlling the Cyclops I, got the submersible stuck in the wreckage of the Andrea Doria.
Lochridge says after an extended debate, Rush finally relinquished the controller used to navigate the submersible, throwing it at Lochridge’s head.
Rojas admitted the situation was tense, but described a different scenario.
“Did you see the exact passing of the controller between the two?” The Coast Guard’s Jason Neubauer asked Rojas.
“It was put on his feet,” she testified.
Sitting next to her legal counsel, she choked up again when she was offered the opportunity for some final words—defending deep sea tourism and exploration.
“I hope that innovation continues, so that we can make the oceans accessible to people like me who got to fulfill a dream. And you still have citizen scientists who want to pay for expeditions. Expeditions are needed. The oceans are significantly underfunded, private citizens are the ones funding the expeditions and I hope that doesn’t stop.”