OceanGate Expeditions has confirmed the deaths of the five men on the Titan submersible. The landing frame and rear cover of the missing submersible were discovered on the ocean floor, 500 meters from the bow of the Titanic. The discovery by a remote operated submarine is said to mean the sub suffered a crack and imploded under the underwater pressure, instantly killing those on board. The US Coast Guard said the men would have died instantly, their bodies may never be recovered.

The submersible Titan, operated by US-based OceanGate Expeditions, lost contact with surface vessels on Sunday morning as it was nearing the shipwreck during a 3,800-metre dive that usually takes about two hours.

Time lapse

The family of British billionaire Hamish Harding, who was on board the missing Titan, earlier accused OceanGate of having taken “far too long” to report the sub’s disappearance. Communications between the submersible and the surface vessel, Polar Prince, were lost at about 9.45am local time on Sunday, 1 hour and 45 minutes after starting its descent to the Titanic wreck. But it was not until 5.40 pm local time that the US Coast Guard was made aware.

Officials have not yet indicated whether they believe the sub ever actually made it to the Titanic. In a statement Thursday afternoon OceanGate said: “We now believe that our CEO Stockton Rush, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood, Hamish Harding, and Paul-Henri Nargeolet, have sadly been lost.”

“There’s a limit to safety concerns”

Just last December, Rush, told “CBS Sunday Morning” that he didn’t think diving in a submersible was “very dangerous” at all. But when asked about the dangers that exist at nearly 13,000 feet underwater, he admitted to concern about a number of reasons that might prevent the sub not making its way back to the surface.

“What I worry about most are things that will stop me from being able to get to the surface,” he said. “Overhangs, fish nets, entanglement hazards. And, that’s just a technique, piloting technique. It’s pretty clear — if it’s an overhang, don’t go under it. If there is a net, don’t go near it. So, you can avoid those if you are just slow and steady.”

In the same interview, Rush, the co-founder of the private company that has conducted more than a dozen underwater expeditions since 2010, said that while the appropriate safety measures were being taken by OceanGate, “there’s a limit” to his safety concerns.

“I mean, if you just want to be safe, don’t get out of bed,” he said. “Don’t get in your car. Don’t do anything. At some point, you’re going to take some risk, and it really is a risk-reward question. I think I can do this just as safely by breaking the rules.”

Safety warnings

Some experts have raised concerns about Titan, which was never “classed” or certified by an independent third party to ensure it met certain safety standards.

OceanGate currently operates three submersibles for conducting research, film production, and “exploration travel,” including tours of the site of the Titanic. A seat on that eight-day mission costs $250,000 per person.

William Kohnen, president and CEO of the California-based engineering firm Hydrospace Group, has said about 95 percent of all submersibles are certified. Titan, he said, “is very much an outlier.”

Kohnen was part of a group of engineers and industry professionals who wrote to Rush in 2018 to express their concern. Their letter, first obtained by the New York Times, warned that the company’s “experimental” approach to Titan could have “catastrophic” consequences.

In a 2019 blog post, OceanGate said that Titan which is made from carbon fibre and titanium – was not classed because the process could inhibit innovation and did not address pilot error, which it said is the cause of most marine accidents.

It has been reported that in previous interviews, Rush “showed off Titan’s many off-the-shelf features, including a steering control made from a video game controller, and cabin lights purchased from a camping store.”

Breaking rules

A YouTube video has emerged showing Rush giving a tour of the 22-foot vessel to Mexican actor Alan Estrada before he travelled to the Titanic on the submersible. Rush tells Estrada – who filmed the video (which we viewed) and posted it on YouTube last year – about the seven-inch thick acrylic window on the front of the Titan to give those inside a view of the famous wreckage that lies 12,500 feet below the ocean surface.

“It is seven inches thick and weighs about 80lbs. And when we go to the Titanic, it will squeeze in about three-quarters of an inch and just deforms,” he says. “And acrylic is great because before it cracks or fails, it starts to crackle so you get a huge warning if it’s going to fail.”
He does not elaborate on any emergency measures in the case of such catastrophic failure
“I think it was General MacArthur who said you’re remembered for the rules you break,” Rush told Estrada. “And I’ve broken some rules to make this. I think I’ve broken them with logic and good engineering behind me.”

The full statement by OceanGate, as reported by the BBC:

We now believe that our CEO Stockton Rush, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood, Hamish Harding, and Paul-Henri Nargeolet, have sadly been lost.

These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world’s oceans. Our hearts are with these five souls and every member of their families during this tragic time. We grieve the loss of life and joy they brought to everyone they knew.

This is an extremely sad time for our dedicated employees who are exhausted and grieving deeply over this loss. The entire OceanGate family is deeply grateful for the countless men and women from multiple organizations of the international community who expedited wide-ranging resources and have worked so very hard on this mission.

We appreciate their commitment to finding these five explorers, and their days and nights of tireless work in support of our crew and their families.

This is a very sad time for the entire explorer community, and for each of the family members of those lost at sea.

We respectfully ask that the privacy of these families be respected during this most painful time.