According to reports, a former employee of Oceangate had warned about the safety of the submarine ship in 2018.
Concerns were raised in 2018 about the safety of a submarine that has been missing since Sunday, when it landed with tourists on a deep-sea excursion to view the wreckage of the Titanic.
The pilot and four passengers are on board and the available oxygen on the vehicle is estimated to have run out on Thursday morning.
The Titan submersible is a 22-foot (6.7 m) long vessel operated by Oceangate Expeditions based in Everett, Washington. According to the company’s website, it dived to an altitude of 4,000 meters (13,100 ft) for the first time in December of 2018 and dived for the first time in 2021 at the site of the Titanic – which lies at a depth of about 3,800 meters below sea level. This year he has planned 18 such dives.
But some experts were concerned about its safety, with both a former employee and members of a trade group voicing concerns about the Titan ship’s design during its development.
On January 18, 2018, Oceangate employee David Lockridge sent an engineering report to company leaders that he criticized for Oceangate’s research and development process for the Titan, following lawsuits filed by Lockridge and Oceangate against each other that year. According. In particular, Lochridge was concerned about the design of the hull and its ability to withstand the intense pressure of deep water.
According to the lawsuits, the company called a meeting the next day to discuss Locridge’s concerns. At the meeting’s conclusion, Lockridge stated that he could not accept Oceangate’s design decisions and would not authorize any crewed voyages without further testing. Then he was fired from the job.
Oceangate filed suit against Lockridge in June and July of 2018, alleging that he had discussed confidential information with at least two other people. Lockridge countersued in August 2018, denying this and claiming that Oceangate’s lawsuit was “an attempt to discourage whistleblowers from coming forward with quality control issues and safety concerns that put the safety of innocent passengers at risk.”
Oceangate did not respond to requests for comment. Lockridge, through his lawyer, said he had no comment to make.
letter from friends
Will Cohnen, chair of the Marine Technology Society (MTS) committee on manned submarines, wrote a letter dated March 27, 2018, to Stockton Rush, founder and CEO of OceanGate, which is operating the missing vehicle. In the letter, Cohn expressed what he said were widespread concerns about the Titan sub.
The problem, Kohn said in an interview with Reuters on Wednesday, is not a single design flaw. At issue was that Oceangate had not gone through an industry-recognized certification process for the sub’s design, construction and testing.
“Our apprehension is that the current experimental approach adopted by OceanGate could result in negative consequences (ranging from minor to catastrophic), which would have serious consequences for everyone in the industry,” Cohnen’s letter read.
Cohn asked the MTS board in 2018 to officially send a letter to Stockton on behalf of the entire society. Cohn said the board would not do so because it was not within their purview as an organization.
The letter came after, Cohnen said, submarine experts attending an annual symposium expressed concern that Oceangate would not allow certification of the Titan by DNV GL, an independent quality assurance and risk management company that specializes in underwater research. The design of vehicles sets the standards for safety.
DNV GL states on its website that it has more than 40 years of experience in the field of underwater vehicles. It certifies the design and safety of such vehicles.
But according to the lawsuit by MTS and Lockridge, it never certified the Titan. DNV GL did not respond to requests for comment.
The letter states that experts believe that Oceangate should at least create a prototype test program for Titan, which will be reviewed by DNV GL, adding that “it is our unanimous view that This third-party verification process is an important component of the security measures.” Protect all submersible inhabitants.”
Stockton was sent a draft of the letter and its contents were discussed in a 2018 phone call with Cohn, in which the people “agreed to disagree” about the security concerns raised, Cohn said.
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