June 23, 2023 – Missing Titanic sub crew killed after 'catastrophic implosion'

A trailer and other equipment are seen at OceanGate’s headquarters in Everett, Washington, on June 22.

A CNN review of OceanGate’s marketing material, public statements made by CEO Stockton Rush and court records show that even as the company touted a commitment to safety measures, it rejected industry standards that would have imposed greater scrutiny on its operations and vessels.

The company also boasted of collaborations with reputable institutions that have since denied partnering with OceanGate on the submersible in question.

Some industry experts said OceanGate’s operations were known to be risky.

“This was a company that was already defying much of what we already know about submersible design,” Rachel Lance, a Duke University biomedical engineer who has studied physiological requirements of survival underwater, said on CNN Thursday. She noted some of the vessel’s design materials “were already large red flags to people who have worked in this field.”

OceanGate declined to comment on its safety record.

To the public, OceanGate’s marketing sought to appeal to potential customers’ sense of adventure while also assuring them the adventure was safe. They featured scientists or explorers praising the company’s innovations. One flashy promotional video, published last year, opens with a voiceover boasting an unforgettable — but safe — voyage: “OceanGate Expeditions offers you the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be a specially trained crew member safely diving to the Titanic wreckage site.”

That video also features explorer Paul Henri-Nargeolet, who was among those who died this week, praising the design of the doomed vessel.

“The sub, for me, it’s very well done because it’s simple,” Nargeolet said. “Usually they have a lot of equipment and a lot of switches, and on this one you don’t have because you work with a screen and a keyboard and it’s very easy to do that.”

That simplicity was highlighted late last year when Rush invited CBS News reporter David Pogue on a voyage, in which Rush admitted that he bought parts for his craft off-the-shelf at stores such as Camping World.

In online videos, Rush explained the Titan’s unconventional design, which he said included carbon fiber to increase the vessel’s buoyancy. It “hasn’t been used in a crewed submersible ever before,” he said in a video last year.

The Titan also included an “unparalleled safety feature” that monitored the integrity of the vessel’s hull during each dive, according to OceanGate’s website. A 2021 press release highlighted its “multiple, redundant safety systems.”

But in a separate interview with Pogue, Stockton seemed dismissive of safety.

“At some point, safety just is pure waste,” Stockton said. “I mean, if you just want to be safe, don’t get out of bed. Don’t get in your car. Don’t do anything.”

Read more here.