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The safety of the tourist submersible that went missing on its way to the site of the Titanic has allegedly been a matter of concern before.
The Titan, carrying five passengers to the wreckage site 900 miles east of Cape Cod in the North Atlantic, went missing on June 18, according to the First Coast Guard District’s official Twitter account.
The excursion was part of OceanGate Expeditions — a company that hosts a “Titanic Expedition” to the historic site — and according to court documents obtained by The New Republic, a former employee had reportedly expressed concern several years ago about the sub’s capabilities.
Aboard the submersible was OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, who was piloting the voyage; British-Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood; and British billionaire Hamish Harding. Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet was also aboard the sub, according to the New York Times, ITV, and the BBC.
The @USCG is searching for a 21-foot submersible from the Canadian research vessel Polar Prince.
The 5 person crew submerged Sunday morning, and the crew of the Polar Prince lost contact with them approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes into the vessel’s dive.
— USCGNortheast (@USCGNortheast) June 19, 2023
According to the 2018 breach of contract suit, former OceanGate employee David Lochridge, a submersible pilot and director of marine operations at the time, alleged that the sub could not safely reach the depths it needed for guests to see the Titanic wreckage — an estimated 13,000 feet underwater, TNR reported.
This information surfaced when Lochridge was reportedly fired and was sued by OceanGate after he allegedly refused to green-light “manned tests of the early model of the submarine” because he believed it was unsafe, and for allegedly disclosing confidential information, according to TNR.
The Lost Titanic Sub Didn’t Even Have a Basic Safety Beacon
Search and rescue teams are racing against the clock as they attempt to find a missing submersible and its five-person crew that was slated to explore the wreck of the Titanic nearly 13,000 feet under the North Atlantic on June 18. The U.S. Coast Guard said that the 22-foot-long deep-sea vessel, dubbed the Titan, only has a few days worth of oxygen.
The craft is owned and operated by OceanGate, a private submersible company that offers chartered trips to the wreckage of the Titanic to customers for $250,000 a seat. It set out on its voyage on Sunday morning, but lost contact with its research ship the Polar Prince about 1 hour and 45 minutes into its journey.
Things are looking bleak. Even in the best conditions, voyages on and under the North Atlantic are fraught with the kinds of dangers that the Titanic itself faced including freezing water temperatures, chaotic weather conditions, and surging waves and currents. It’s not helped that the technology that went into building the Titan was experimental, unregulated, risky, and potentially life-threatening. This not only makes diving operations like the one undertaken by the Titan fraught, but it also dangerously complicates search and rescue operations.
The wreck of the Titanic lies at a depth of about 12,500 feet (3,800 metres; 2,100 fathoms), about 370 nautical miles (690 kilometres) south-southeast of the coast of Newfoundland. It lies in two main pieces about 2,000 feet (600 m) apart.
In 2018, a former #OceanGate submersible pilot and its director of marine operations filed a lawsuit claiming he had been wrongfully terminated for bringing up concerns about the Titan's ability to safely operate at extreme depths, specifically stating the vessel was only…
— Kevin Kunze (@kevinkunze__) June 20, 2023
— Kevin Kunze (@kevinkunze__) June 21, 2023
OceanGate Was Warned of Potential for ‘Catastrophic’ Problems With Titanic Mission
Im not big on conspiracy theories, but There is something fishy going on.. t.co/lyHhPyCpAA
— JG Restore America (@JgRestore) June 21, 2023
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