Tourist sub taking groups to look at Titanic wreckage goes missing

OceanGate REFUSED to put missing Titan sub through independent inspection process and fired director who asked for more rigorous safety tests


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The company which launched a submersible that has vanished on a mission to the Titanic's wreckage fired a director who raised concerns about its safety and also refused to have the craft independently inspected, DailyMail.com can reveal.

OceanGate bosses fired David Lochridge, who was Director of Marine operations for the Titan project, in 2018 after it disagreed with his demand for more rigorous safety checks on the submersible, including 'testing to prove its integrity'.

The company also opted against having the craft 'classed', an industry-wide practice whereby independent inspectors ensure vessels meet accepted technical standards.


OceanGate, which charges up to $250,000 for a seat on the submersible, suggested that seeking classification could take years and would be 'anathema to rapid innovation'.


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OceanGate bosses fired David Lochridge, who was Director of Marine operations for the Titan project, in 2018 after it disagreed with his demand for more rigorous safety checks on the submersible.




In 2019, OceanGate said seeking classification for Titan would not 'ensure that operators adhere to proper operating procedures and decision-making processes – two areas that are much more important for mitigating risks at sea'.

Classification involves recruiting an independent organization to ensure vessels like ships and submersibles meet industry-wide technical standards. It is a crucial way of ensuring a vessel is fit to operate.

In a blog post titled 'Why Isn't Titan Classed?', OceanGate suggested classification would take too long.

The post said: '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.'

The company said its 'innovations' included a real-time (RTM) hull health monitoring system which is 'not currently covered by any classing agency'.

OceanGate suggested its own in-house safety protocols were sufficient. The blog concluded that 'by itself, classing is not sufficient to ensure safety'.

Lochridge, whose role included overseeing safety on the Titan project, had urged OceanGate to seek classification several years ago, before he was sacked in a disagreement about safety checks on the craft.


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David Lochridge, who was Director of Marine operations for the Titan project, was fired after meetings with OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, who is on board the missing submersible




He also wanted the company to carry out a scan of Titan's hull to 'detect potential flaws' rather than 'relying on acoustic monitoring' – which would only detect an issue 'milliseconds before an implosion'.

The revelation is significant because rescuers do not know whether Titan is still at the bottom of the ocean - triggering fears it could have 'imploded' under extreme pressure.

In a court document filed in 2018, lawyers for the company said Lochridge's employment was terminated because he 'could not accept' their research and plans, including safety protocols.

OceanGate also claimed that Lochridge 'desired to be fired' and had shared confidential information with others and wiped a company hard drive. The company said he 'refused to accept the voracity of information' about safety from Titan's lead engineer.

Lochridge had relocated from the UK to Washington to work on the development of the Titan – which was previously called Cyclops 2.

A former Royal Navy marine engineer and ship's diver, he was described by OceanGate as an 'expert in the field of submarine operations and rescue'.

Legal filings obtained by DaiyMail.com show that he wrote a report in 2018 which was critical of the company's research and development process for the vessel.

Lochridge also 'strongly encouraged that OceanGate utilize a classification agency, such as the American Bureau of Shipping, to inspect and certify the Titan.'

The suit states that 'OceanGate refused both requests, and stated it was unwilling to pay for a classification agency to inspect its experimental design.'

Lochridge '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.'

Lochridge stated he could not accept OceanGate's research and development plans. Based on Lochridge's position, OceanGate terminated his employment, the legal filings reveal.


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From the article above

"During one meeting he discovered that the viewpoint was only built to a certified pressure of 1,300 meters – despite OceanGate intending to take passengers down to 4,000 meters.

Legal filings state: 'Lochridge learned that the viewport manufacturer would only certify to a depth of 1,300 meters due to the experimental design of the viewport supplied by OceanGate, which was out of the Pressure Vessels for Human Occupancy ('PVHO') standards.

'OceanGate refused to pay for the manufacturer to build a viewport that would meet the required depth of 4,000 meters."
 
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A spokesman for OceanGate confirms that Stockton Rush, its chief executive, was piloting the company's vessel that is lost in the North Atlantic. All five occupants have now been identified.

Leaders in the submersible craft industry were so worried about what they called the "experimental" approach of OceanGate, the company whose craft has gone missing, that they wrote a letter in 2018 warning of possible "catastrophic" problems with the submersible's development and its planned mission to tour the Titanic wreckage.

The letter, obtained by The New York Times, was sent to OceanGate's chief executive, Stockton Rush, by the Manned Underwater Vehicles committee of the Marine Technology Society, a 60-year-old trade group that aims to promote ocean technology and educate the public about it.

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/06/20/us/titanic-missing-submarine
 
I can’t imagine sitting in my Jeep without being able to stand up for 3 days. Let alone hunched in a freezing tin can in the dark with 4 strangers. Come to think of it, if the power is out I doubt they’d survive hyperthermia long enough to suffocate. Terrible situation.
 
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US Navy is sending high-tech salvage system to site of Titanic sub search that is capable of lifting 60,000 pounds from 19,000ft below - to join French robot that can dive to 20,000ft


Deep dive vessels from across the world have been deployed to help search for the missing Titanic tourist submersible – as the Coast Guard says those on board only have about 40 hours of oxygen left.

The US Navy said on Tuesday it is sending experts and a 'Flyaway Deep Ocean Salvage System' — which can lift small vessels — to assist.

A team from France is expected to arrive in Canada on Wednesday to operate a remotely operated robot and a submarine deployed from the L'Atlante ship.



The boat can hold up to 30 technicians and scientists for up to 45 days, and both the devices on board are able to reach 6,000m (around 20,000ft) below sea level.

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A team from France is expected to arrive in Canada on Wednesday to operate a remotely operated robot and a submarine (pictured) which are deployed from the L'Atlante ship.


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The system was successfully used in March 2021 to retrieve a Sea Hawk helicopter that was sitting on the seabed near Okinawa, Japan, some 19,075 feet below the surface. A new salvage record was set at the time.

'The Navy is sending subject matter experts and a Flyaway Deep Ocean Salvage System (FADOSS), motion compensated lift system designed to provide reliable deep ocean lifting capacity for the recovery of large, bulky, and heavy undersea objects such as aircraft or small vessels, from Navy Supervisor of Salvage,' a Navy Spokesperson told The War Zone on Tuesday.

This 'expertise and equipment will support USCG [U.S. Coast Guard] and the unified command. Personnel and equipment are scheduled to arrive at St. John's [in Canada] tonight.'



FADOSS is a modular system that can be employed from any suitable ship to recover objects weight up to 60,000 pounds.

Titan weighs some 23,000 pounds, according to OceanGate.

L'Atlante, which is expected to arrive in the search zone later on Wednesday, is less than 48 hours away from the site where the sub went missing, according to Hervé Berville, France's junior minister in charge of maritime affairs.

It has a manned submersible called Nautile and remote-operated vehicle Victor 6000 on board.

Nautile can dive to a depth of 20,000ft with a crew of three and is one of the very few manned deep-sea submarines.



It has three wide-angle viewports and LED searchlights provide a direct view of the seabed. A dive on board the sub can last up to eight hours, of which six can be spent working at the sea floor.

The remote-operated Victor 600 is a deep-water ROV remotely operated by cable that can also go to depths of 20,000ft.


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Victor 6000 is connected to the ship by an electromechanical cable which is 26,250ft long and supplies 20 kW of power


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L'Atlante can hold up to 30 technicians and scientists for up to 45 days, and both the devices on board are able to reach 20,000ft below sea level



It is equipped with a high-performance navigation system which comprises a range of sensors connected to an inertial navigation system and has completed more than 700 dives.

The high-resolution optical imaging system ensures an optimal visual perception of the environment and can also generate optical 3D reconstructions of the area under observation.

Victor 6000 is connected to the ship by an electromechanical cable which is 26,250ft-long and supplies 20 kW of power.

Optical fibers in the cable send the data and image flows to the surface, allowing it to be piloted from the ship in real time – with there being no limit to the duration of a drive.

Along with the French vessels, a Bahamas-flagged ship - which is owned by a UK and US company - is also assisting in the search effort.

The Deep Energy is owned by TechnipFMC, which specializes in laying pipe and cables, and arrived at the wreck site on Tuesday morning.


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Two remotely operated vehicles are being used to help the search, but they can only dive to 9,850ft.


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Along with the French ship, a Bahamas-flagged ship which specializes in laying pipe and cables is also assisting in the search effort



The ship is carrying two remotely operated vehicles that can dive to 9,850ft to help with the search.

They unmanned submersibles, operated from a control room on the mothership, and are tethered with 3,280ft-long cables.

At a press conference at the US Coast Guard Station in Boston - which is coordinating the search and rescue effort - First District Response Coordinator Capt. Jamie Frederick conceded on Tuesday that a rescue was far from guaranteed.

Even if they locate the missing vessel in time, there is no certainty it can safely be brought to surface.

The Coast Guard has already searched 7,600 square miles of ocean - an area the size of Connecticut.


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Shahzada Dawood, 48, a UK-based board member of the Prince's Trust charity, and his son Sulaiman Dawood, 19, are among the five people trapped in the sub



At 12,500ft underwater, there are few vessels able to dive deeply enough to find it.

The only ones able to search the ocean floor are remotely operated vehicles which are searching the ocean now.

If they find the sub, getting it to the surface is another feat entirely, requiring specialist equipment that is not yet on-site.

Other experts likened it to requiring a 2.5 mile-long cable to lasso to the far side of the moon.

There are multiple civilian ships assisting in the search, along with US Navy, Canadian Navy ships and aircraft.

Among pieces of equipment now on the way to the site is a decompression chamber for the five passengers, should they be brought to the surface.


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'I asked for a refund - they were cutting too many corners': Friend of Hamish Harding says he pulled out of joining the billionaire on missing sub due to 'safety concerns'

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Chris Brown, 61, (pictured on left with Sir Richard Branson) had paid the deposit to go on the doomed Titanic voyage, but says he changed his mind after becoming concerned by the quality of technology and materials used in the vessel. Among his concerns were OceanGate's use of 'old scaffolding poles' for the ballast and the fact that its controls were 'based on computer game-style controllers'.

Despite being 'one of the first people to sign up for this trip', he ultimately decided the 'risks were too high'. Mr Brown added that he feels 'really upset about Hamish Harding', who is among the five passengers on the submersible, called the Titan, that are currently missing.



Mr Brown and Mr Harding signed up for the then-£80,000 voyage after sharing a 'few beers' while holidaying on Sir Richard Branson's Necker Island.

The pair paid the 10 per cent deposit for the trip, which has since more than doubled in price, while the Titan was still being developed, he claimed.

But Mr Brown alleged that in the years that followed, he learned OceanGate had 'missed key targets' when depth-testing the submersible.

The multi-millionaire digital marketing tycoon found it concerning that the vessel was controlled by a modified Playstation controller.

He also is understood to have been worried by the technical issues and delays throughout the development process.

He told The Sun: 'I found out they used old scaffolding poles for the sub's ballast.

'If you're trying to build your own submarine you could probably use old scaffold poles. But this was a commercial craft.'

Mr Brown, who says he is 'not one to shy away from risk', eventually emailed OceanGate and asked for a refund.

He is worried for his friend, but says Mr Harding is not the panicking type. He believes the billionaire is likely keeping 'extremely calm' and 'processing plans, schemes and ideas through his enormous brain'.

Mr Brown says Mr Harding will be 'giving hope' to the other passengers.



OceanGate Expeditions has been chronicling the Titanic's decay and the underwater ecosystem around it via yearly voyages since 2021.


The Titan was launched from an icebreaker that was hired by OceanGate and formerly operated by the Canadian Coast Guard. The ship has ferried dozens of people and the submersible craft to the North Atlantic wreck site, where the Titan has made multiple dives.

The US Coast Guard said Tuesday afternoon that the submersible had about 40 hours of oxygen remaining, meaning the supply could run out Thursday morning.

OceanGate has described the Titan as 'the largest of any deep diving submersible' with an 'unparalleled safety feature' that assesses the integrity of the hull throughout every dive.



Made of titanium and filament wound carbon fiber, the Titan weighs 20,000 pounds (9,072 kilograms) in the air, but is ballasted to be neutrally buoyant once it reaches the seafloor, the company said.

Titan is capable of diving four kilometers (2.4 miles) 'with a comfortable safety margin,' according to documents filed by the company in April with a US District Court in Virginia that oversees Titanic matters.

At the time of the filing, Titan had undergone more than 50 test dives, including to the equivalent depth of the Titanic, in deep waters off the Bahamas and in a pressure chamber, the company said.

During its 2022 expedition, OceanGate reported that the submersible had a battery issue on its first dive and had to be manually attached to its lifting platform.


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