"This can't be the end of deep-ocean exploration. This can't be the end of deep-diving submersibles and I don't believe that it will be," said businessman Guillermo Sohnlein, who helped found OceanGate with Stockton Rush.

OceanGate co-founder Guillermo Sohnlein revealed during the Coast Guard hearings Monday that the company used a cheaper material while constructing the vessel to reduce costs.

Though Sohnlein left the Washington company years ago, he spoke in defense of its efforts in the aftermath of the submersible’s implosion.

Businessman Guillermo Sohnlein, who helped found OceanGate with Stockton Rush, told a Coast Guard panel on Monday that "this can't be the end of deep ocean exploration."

OceanGate's former co-founder testified on Monday before the U.S. Coast Guard in its probe into the possible failures leading up to the deadly Titan submersible disaster.

The surviving co-founder of the company that owned the doomed Titan submersible is testifying Monday as a US Coast Guard panel continues to investigate what led to the implosion that killed five people last year.

Guillermo Sohnlein, the OceanGate co-founder, will testify before the US Coast Guard in relation to the Titan submersible tragedy.

The co-founder of the company that owned the experimental submersible that imploded en route to the wreckage of the Titanic is scheduled to testify before the U.S. Coast Guard as part of its investigation of the maritime disaster.