Owner Of Imploded Titanic-Searching Sub Suspends Operations
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
WASHINGTON (Worthy News) – Ocean Gate, the company that owned a submersible that imploded on its way to explore the wreck of the sunken Titanic ship killing all five onboard, has suspended its operations ahead of possible lawsuits.
“OceanGate has suspended all exploration and commercial operations,” said a brief announcement on the status of the company’s activities.
Scrutiny around OceanGate has been ongoing since its submersible Titan’s failed its expedition to the Titanic in June.
The company operated Titan as part of the OceanGate Expeditions tour, which takes passengers to shipwreck sites.
The 21-foot submersible went missing on June 18, 2023, while on an expedition to the sunken luxury steamship in the North Atlantic Ocean.
The Titan was piloted with a video game controller and had five people onboard when it lost contact with its home ship. In addition to OceanGate’s CEO, Stockton Rush, on board were French deep sea explorer Paul-Henry Nargeolet, British adventurer Hamish Harding, Pakistani investor Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son, Suleman Dawood.
Investigators believe the Titan imploded as it descended into deep North Atlantic waters on June 18.
US COAST GUARD
The U.S. Coast Guard said last week that human remains have likely been recovered from the wreckage of the submersible and are being examined by medical officials in the United States.
Remotely operated vehicles, known as ROVs, were used to retrieve the debris from the ocean floor about 12,500 feet (3,810 meters) underwater. A ship later brought pieces of the wreckage to a port in Canada to be examined. The debris was found roughly 1,600 feet away (488 meters) from the Titanic, investigators said.
The U.S. Coast Guard has reportedly convened a Marine Board of Investigation, its highest level of investigation, into the implosion and plans to hold a public hearing.
Legal experts said they expect family members of those killed to file lawsuits not only against OceanGate but also against Titan’s maker and companies that provided parts.
But if OceanGate shuts down, that certainly reduces their options, said Richard Daynard, a distinguished professor at Northeastern University School of Law.
The expected lawsuits come as a recent investigation showed that years before OceanGate’s submersible craft went missing in the Atlantic Ocean, it had already received warnings.
In 2018 OceanGate’s director of marine operations, David Lochridge, started working on a report around that time expressing safety concerns, according to court documents. He produced a scathing document saying the craft needed more testing and stressed: “The potential dangers to passengers of the Titan as the submersible reached extreme depths.”
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