You’ve probably read about the catastrophic implosion of the Titanic tour submersible, which has since put into question the safety of the vessel and such ocean expeditions.
If you haven’t heard about the Titan submersible’s implosion, you can read more here.
There’s been a new update to the incident. It was revealed that Stockton Rush, the chief executive of Oceangate, the company responsible for the incident, had dismissed warnings about the submersible’s safety.
More Than Three Dozen Industry Experts Warned OceanGate About Titan Submersible’s Safety
In 2009, Stockton Rush founded OceanGate, allowing customers to see the ocean’s depths, including the Titanic wreck, on board a submersible.
OceanGate had prided itself in its submersible, sharing that although its design was unconventional by industry standards, it was innovative and still meets the standards “where they apply”.
Smells like “copium”.
Long before the current submersible implosion, industry experts have already been warning OceanGate about the submersible’s safety.
In fact, more than three dozen signed a letter to Mr Rush in 2018 urging the CEO to review the experimental design of the submersible and the implications on the submersible’s safety.
Specifically, the carbon fibre material the submersible was constructed from was unacceptable by industry standards, and the submersible was not certified by a marine organisation.
Red flags galore.
However, these experts’ calls were brushed aside—trying to change Mr Rush’s mind was like talking to a brick wall.
One of these experts was Rob McCallum, who in 2018 had advised the CEO against using the Titan submersible, citing the aforementioned safety risks.
I mean, if your submersible is using a Logitech controller that a basement child rage quits on, it’s pretty evident that there might be a problem.
Regardless, the CEO dismissed these safety warnings as “baseless cries”.
Well, this comment didn’t age well…
Mr Rush, one of the passengers aboard the imploded submersible, defended his company’s credentials in taking on an engineering-focused and innovative approach. Perhaps this is the one time that “play defence!” doesn’t ring true.
He even had a Michael Jordan moment and took the safety warnings personally.
Mr McCallum continued urging the Titan submersible CEO not to use the submersible, calling him out by saying: “In your race to Titanic you are mirroring that famous catch cry: ‘She is unsinkable’”.
Mic drop.
Perhaps Mr Rush understood the safety risks but didn’t want to bother about it. This could explain why the waiver that OceanGate customers have to sign literally mentions “death” three different times.
Regardless, the Titan submersible CEO refused to listen to Mr McCallum. Instead, he stopped replying to the email thread and referred the matter to his lawyers instead, who threatened legal action against Mr McCallum.
It seems like the “sue until your pants drop” isn’t unique to Singapore.
As Mr McCallum said, the Titan submersible CEO’s dismissal of experts’ safety warnings comes at a price.
“So it should never be allowed to happen again. It shouldn’t have been allowed to happen this time,” he added.