After watching Netflix’sTitan: The OceanGate Disaster, viewers may find themselves wondering what Emily Hammermeister, “The Insider,” has done since quitting her job with OceanGate, and the answer proves that leaving was the right choice. Netflix’s OceanGate documentary provides an insider look at the company and events leading up tothe Titan implosionin 2023. Titan: The OceanGate Disaster interviews multiple individuals involved in OceanGate leading up to the implosion, and Emily Hammermeister provides important insight into the thoughts of the lower-level engineers on the project.
Hammermeister reveals in the documentary that she and the other lower-level employees weren’t just overlooking all the dangerous thingshappening at OceanGate. She and her coworkers spoke up about the problem, but they were ignored and suppressed. Some were even fired, like David Lochridge. Ultimately, Hammermeister left the company in 2020, raising questions about where she is and what she’s been doing. Luckily, leaving allowed her to blossom professionally.
Why Emily Hammermeister Quit Her Job At OceanGate
Morality Became A Breaking Point For Emily Hammerstein
Even though red flags started popping up for Emily Hammermeister earlier on, she stayed with the company because she feared the instability of losing her job during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite this, she eventually decided to leave her position as Submersible Pilot and Engineering Project Manager because she didn’t feel comfortable allowing passengers and crew members to go down in the Titan after the third scale model failed at just 3000 meters, 800 meters short of the Titanic.
She was essentially given an ultimatum of either getting on board with the company’s plans or getting out.
The failure itself wasn’t upsetting to Hammermeister, as she discloses in Titan: The OceanGate Disaster. It was the response to the failure that left her with a sour taste in her mouth. Rather than going back to the drawing board or testing the model again, Stockton Rush decided to move forward with making the full-size hull.
Without further tests,Hammermeister refused to bolt anyone into the submersible. She was essentially given an ultimatum of either getting on board with the company’s plans or getting out. As such, she quit. Unfortunately, her departure had no impact on the outcome since Stockton Rush had enough yes-men surrounding him. However, this moral conviction might have saved her, as she very well could have been aboard OceanGate’s Titan when it imploded. After all, she was a submersible pilot.
What Happened To Emily Hammermeister After Leaving OceanGate
Hammermeister Is Pursuing Her PhD In Oceanography
One of the biggest questions related to Emily Hammermeister after watching Titan: The OceanGate Disaster is whether she participated in the Coast Guard investigation. Based on the witness list and hearing schedule on theCoast Guard News website, Emily Hammermeister did not testify in the United States Coast Guard investigation into the OceanGate disaster because she wasn’t called as a witness. They seem to have focused instead on the former engineering directors.
Instead, she’s delved further into the world of oceanography, which she has documented on her Twitter and LinkedIn accounts. Since she departed from OceanGate in September 2020, Hammermeister has started working towards a PhD in Oceanography, doing impressive research to further the scientific understanding of carbon observation in the ocean. In September 2024, she started as PhD researcher at the prestigiousNational Oceanography Centrein Southhampton, England. She made a major career step in 2024 when she was a keynote speaker at the Integrated Carbon Observation Systems conference.
Just two months before the release ofTitan: The OceanGate Disaster, she had another landmark in her career. Emily Hammermeister announced on herLinkedInthat ACS Environmental Science and Technology Journal published the first paper where she serves as the first author. The paper looks at the use of novel pH and alkalinity sensors on autonomous underwater vehicles to characterize marine carbon. Based on all the incredible work she has already done to further oceanography, Emily Hammermeister will undoubtedly have an impressive, successful career in the scientific world.
