Past Warnings Resurface of OceanGate’s Titanic Mission

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Editor's Note: Original story article from TheSocialTalks.

Five passengers that were on a voyage to view the RMS Titanic on the Titan submersible died near the wreckage in a “catastrophic implosion,” according to authorities on Thursday. The announcements marked the end of the five-day international search and rescue operation in the North Atlantic.

Debris from Titan was found by a remote-controlled vessel approximately 1,600 feet from the bow of the Titanic.

According to Rear Admiral John Mauger of the US Coast Guard, the debris was consistent with a “catastrophic loss of pressure chamber.”

“On behalf of the US Coast Guard and the entire unified command, I offer my deepest condolences to the families,” Mauger said.

The U.S. Navy’s sonar detection suggested that an implosion occurred around the time communication was lost with Titan while it was descending to the wreckage site, based on an acoustic signature.

As an investigation with the U.S. Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board are underway to determine the nature of the incident, years of safety concerns about the vessel resurfaced during the initial search. Experts warned parent company OceanGate Expeditions of the potential dangers of the Titan while criticizing its “experimental” approach and labelling.

According to a report from Insider, the submersible was not subject to any subject regulations as Titan operated in international waters and did not carry passengers from a port. Insider also stated that experts tried to push for the company to have the vessel thoroughly examined by industry regulators and safety groups, as it was not certified as seaworthy by any agency.

In 2018, OceanGate’s director of marine operations, David Lochridge, created a report that listed the safety concerns associated with the vessel and recommended that Titan needed more testing, stating that “the potential dangers to passengers of the Titan as the submersible reached extreme depths.”

According to The New York Times, more than three dozen oceanographers, industry leaders, and deep-sea explorers warned the company that foregoing standard assessments could lead to possible major issues in its expeditions; citing a 1993 U.S. law that regulates safety requirements for submersibles carrying passengers.

Lochridge also stated that the vessel’s viewport was only certified to reach a third of the depth needed to reach the Titanic. OceanGate stated that Lochridge refused to sign off on safety approvals from their engineering team and sued Lochridge for allegedly breaching his confidential contract and creating fraudulent statements. Lochridge countersued for wrongful termination due to listing concerns about Titan’s operation. The two parties eventually settled out of court.

OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, who was one of the five passengers on Titan, criticized the law in a 2019 interview, saying that the law was “understandable but illogical” as it restrained experimentation and innovation.

In a December 2022 CBS morning segment, reporter David Pogue noted that passengers were required to sign a waiver that states Titan’s “experimental” title and “that [it] has not been approved or certified by any regulatory body, and could result in physical injury, disability, emotional trauma or death.”

During the report, Pogue questioned Titan’s safety due to unconventional elements “of MacGyvery jerry-rigged-ness” as it used a $30 modified wireless game controller to move the submersible and construction pipes to serve as Titan’s ballast.

Former passenger and television producer Mike Reiss said in an interview with the BBC that the waiver mentioned death multiple times.

“You sign a massive waiver that lists one way after another that you could die on the trip,” Reiss said. “They mention death three times on page one, so it’s never far from your mind.”

Reiss added that in the three dives that he had done with Oceangate, communication was lost every time as it was the technology was new.

Unlike many submersibles, Titan was not equipped with an acoustic beacon, a device that emits detectable sounds for search and rescue teams, though some reports claim that there were talks of installing one after past incidents.

Due to common misconceptions, Titan, like all submersibles, is small, simply constructed, and is only meant for short-term dives. Unlike submarines which can leave port and come back under their own power, submersibles are very limited in power reserves and cannot go into the ocean or back on their own and cannot generate their own oxygen. They would need a larger ship to drop them in and tow them out of the water. Submersibles also need tanks to retain oxygen supply during use.

Titan was part of a tourist expedition that was operated by OceanGate which provides tours, underwater diving, and expeditions using submersibles.

Founded by Rush, the company takes guests to visit the Titanic shipwreck using the Titan. Customers would pay $250,000 each to participate in the eight-day voyage with a guide and a pilot during the dive. According to OceanGate’s website, the dive reportedly takes around 8 hours, including the descent and ascent.

British businessman Hamish Harding; former French Navy commander Paul-Henri Nargeolet; Pakistani-British businessman of the Dawood Hercules Corporation Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood were also in the Titan with Rush.

On Sunday, the U.S. Coast Guard was notified when the vessel failed to return to the research ship, Polar Prince.

According to a tweet from the U.S. Coast Guard, communication between Polar Prince and Titan was lost around an hour and 45 minutes into its dive, with the U.S. Navy receiving notice of an implosion signature shortly after.

During an aerial search conducted by the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Navy, and Canadian Coast Guard on Tuesday and Wednesday, banging noises were picked up by the sonar of a Canadian P-3 aircraft. Response coordinator from the First Coast Guard District Capt. Jamie Frederick stated that the team heard the noises, at 30-minute intervals, though it was unconfirmed that they were signs of life from the vessel which later proved to not be the case.

Despite having plenty of resources at their disposal during the first two days, search and rescue teams were facing severe complications as there were no U.S. or Canadian underwater vessels nearby at the time that can go as deep as the Titanic wreckage, according to ABC News. The ocean is pitch black at 13,000 feet below the ocean’s surface which created visibility issues for the team.

On Thursday, five hours into the search, debris was found by an ROV near the wreckage of the Titanic that was later confirmed by the U.S. Coast Guard to be from the missing vessel.