OceanGate turned down Titan submersible safety review, says industry leader

OceanGate Expeditions, which operated the submersible that disappeared last Sunday on an expedition to view the wreckage of the Titanic, deviated from industry norms by refusing a voluntary and rigorous safety review of the vessel known as “Titan”, according to a leader. of the industry.

Had OceanGate pursued a certification review, “some of this could have been avoided,” Will Kohnen of the Marine Technology Society told the CNN on Wednesday (21).

Kohnen is chair of a group committee and has described to CNN a 2018 conversation he had with OceanGate founder Stockton Rush addressing societal concerns.

“We agree to disagree,” Kohnen said.

Kohnen wrote a letter to Rush on behalf of the group that outlined the concerns.

“You’re taking a lot of risk, and the risk you’re taking could affect the entire industry,” Kohnen said, characterizing his concerns at the time.

“We have a very good safety record, and if something happens, it will be a big impact to just… our safety record, and everybody cares about that.”

“We told him he should consider certification,” Kohnen said, describing certification as the “gold standard” for security.

In a 2019 blog post on OceanGate’s website, the company said rating agencies “do not ensure that operators follow proper operational procedures and decision-making processes – two areas that are far more important to mitigating risk at sea.” .

“The vast majority of maritime accidents [e aéreos] are the result of operator error, not mechanical failure,” he said.

“There are 10 submarines in the world that can reach about 4,000 meters or deeper,” Kohnen said. “All of them are certified, except the Oceangate submersible.”

He also said that a working lighthouse on the ship would help searchers find it more quickly “so someone could head in that direction.”

OceanGate did not respond to a request from CNN for comment on the letter, which was obtained by CNN and first reported by the New York Times.