OceanGate, the maritime exploration company behind the submersible Titan, which went missing with five people aboard during a trip to the wreckage of the Titanic, fired its director of marine operations after he demanded safety tests of the vehicle before it took passengers to the bottom of the Ocean. The company is also facing questions about other safety decisions, like the submersible lacking a safety beacon.
The Daily Mail reports that OceanGate remains embroiled in an ongoing crisis after its submersible, Titan, disappeared while on a trip to explore the Titanic’s wreckage with five people on board. Due to the incident, the company’s decision to fire a director who had previously voiced safety concerns about the submersible has come to light.
NOAA, OceanGate Expeditions, Steven Senne/AP Photo
David Lochridge, the Titan project’s director of marine operations, was let go in 2018 after calling for more stringent safety inspections of the submersible, including “testing to prove its integrity.” Lochridge was quoted as having “disagreed with OceanGate’s position to dive the submersible without any non-destructive testing to prove its integrity, and to subject passengers to potential extreme danger in an experimental submersible.”
In 2018, Lochridge published a report that was critical of the company’s research and development efforts for the vessel, according to legal filings. He had “strongly encouraged that OceanGate utilize a classification agency, such as the American Bureau of Shipping, to inspect and certify the Titan.” OceanGate, however, turned down both requests.
Despite the concerns expressed by Lochridge, OceanGate declined to have the submersible independently inspected, a practice known as “classing” that is common in the industry. This procedure entails appointing a neutral group to guarantee that submersibles and other vessels adhere to high technical standards set by the entire industry. It is thought to be essential for making sure a vessel is fit for operation.
Classification could take years, according to OceanGate, who defended their choice by saying that it would be “anathema to rapid innovation.” The company stated, “While classing agencies are willing to pursue the certification of new and innovative designs and ideas, they often have a multi-year approval cycle due to a lack of pre-existing standards… Bringing an outside entity up to speed on every innovation before it is put into real-world testing is anathema to rapid innovation.”
It has since come to light that the vessel didn’t even appear to have a basic safety beacon installed. Walt ‘Butch’ Hendrick, a former safety coordinator for the U.S. Army’s Green Beret Diver Trainer Program, told the Daily Beast:
It doesn’t have a beacon to send out a signal to tell our Coast Guard where it is. The thing is supposed to have its own ability to surface, but if its electrical system shortcircuited because of salt water getting into it, that system doesn’t work anymore. We know from other people who have been interviewed that there are people who have been on this unit and the dive didn’t last an hour, they went back because of mechanical difficulties.
Critics contend that the company may have endangered lives by ignoring safety concerns and refusing to submit to an independent inspection. With five people on board, the Titan is currently missing after losing contact while diving to the Titanic’s wreckage, which is located about 12,500 feet beneath the surface of the Atlantic Ocean. Before the submersible’s oxygen supply runs out, a hasty search and rescue operation is being conducted to find it and bring it back. The company has tweeted that it relied on Elon Musk’s starlink for communications, but it isn’t known if that reliance played any role in the current emergency.
The missing submarine was using Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites for its communications at sea. pic.twitter.com/accJHtCk8t
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) June 19, 2023
Breitbart News will continue to cover the ongoing search for the Titan.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan