OceanGate boss claimed 'No-one is dying under my watch' after safety concerns were raised over Titan sub
23 September 2024, 15:37 | Updated: 23 September 2024, 15:41
A transcript from an OceanGate meeting - the firm behind the doomed Titan submersible disaster - has revealed the CEO said: “No-one is dying under my watch - period.”
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The log from the meeting - held in January 2018 - shows a fiery exchange between boss Stockton Rush and former director of marine operations, David Lochridge, as well as three other members of staff.
The log shows Mr Lochridge raising safety concerns, to which Rush responded: “I have no desire to die... I think this is one of the safest things I will ever do.”
In June 2023, the deep-sea submersible imploded on the way to the Titanic shipwreck killing all five passengers on board, including Rush.
The document was released by the US Coast Guard as part of its inquiry into the disaster.
Mr Lochridge gave evidence at the public inquiry last week as a former employee of the company.
He had compiled a “quality inspection report”, which took serious issue with the sub’s design.
These included concerns about the poor quality of the sub’s hull, made of carbon fibre, and issues with the way Titan was being constructed and tested.
Mr Lochridge also told the inquiry he frequently clashed with Rush and felt the company was committed only to making money.
"The whole idea behind the company was to make money," Mr Lochridge said.
"There was very little in the way of science."
Mr Lochridge and other witnesses have painted a picture of a troubled company that was impatient to get its unconventionally designed craft into the water.
The accident set off a worldwide debate about the future of private undersea exploration.
Coast guard officials noted at the start of the hearing that the submersible had not been independently reviewed, as is standard practice. That and Titan's unusual design subjected it to scrutiny in the undersea exploration community.
Businessman Guillermo Sohnlein, co-founder of the company, described lofty goals when the company was created, telling the US coast guard that the company wanted to create multiple deep-water submersibles that could be deployed around the world.
Sohnlein said the original vision was to create a fleet of four or five deep-diving submersibles capable of carrying five people to 6,000 metres (6,500 yards) deep.
The plan for the company was to have no dedicated mothership.
Mr Sohnlein said: "We wanted to give humanity greater access to the ocean, specifically the deep ocean."
He ultimately left the company before the Titan disaster in June 2023.
Though Mr Sohnlein left the Washington company years ago, he spoke in defence of its efforts in the aftermath of the submersible's implosion.
The US coast guard opened a public hearing earlier this month that is part of a high level investigation into the cause of the implosion. Some of the testimony has focused on the troubled nature of the company.
The hearing is expected to run through until Friday and will include more witnesses.
Read more: Titan was 'abomination of a sub', crucial OceanGate witness claims
OceanGate, based in Washington state, suspended its operations after the implosion. The company has no full-time employees currently, but has been represented by a lawyer during the hearing.
During the submersible's final dive on June 18 2023, the crew lost contact after an exchange of texts about Titan's depth and weight as it descended.
The support ship Polar Prince then sent repeated messages asking if Titan could still see the ship on its onboard display.
One of the last messages from Titan's crew to Polar Prince before the submersible imploded stated, "all good here", according to a visual re-creation presented earlier in the hearing.
When the submersible was reported overdue, rescuers rushed ships, planes and other equipment to an area about 435 miles south of St John's, Newfoundland.
Wreckage of the Titan was subsequently found on the ocean floor about 330 yards off the bow of the Titanic, coast guard officials said. No-one on board survived.
OceanGate said it has been fully cooperating with the coast guard and NTSB investigations since they began. Titan had been making voyages to the Titanic wreckage site going back to 2021.
