- OceanGate’s CEO, Stockton Rush, saw certification as a barrier to submersible innovation.
- However, Patrick Lahey, a sub manufacturing company executive, disagrees and believes that certification promotes responsible innovation.
- Lahey states, “Certification is the crucible within which responsible innovation is possible.”
Prior to Stockton Rush’s untimely demise, he expressed his disdain for what he considered excessive regulation.
In a 2019 interview with The Smithsonian, Rush lamented about the limitations of rules, stating, “There hasn’t been an injury in the commercial submersible industry in over 35 years. It’s obscenely safe because they have all these regulations. But it also hasn’t innovated or grown — because they have all these regulations.”
However, Patrick Lahey, the CEO and co-founder of Triton Submarines, disagrees with Rush’s perspective.
Lahey, an experienced sub expert, argued that “Certification is not an impediment to innovation.”
In fact, Lahey believes that certification is essential for responsible innovation to thrive, stating, “Certification is the crucible within which responsible innovation is possible.”
Lahey’s stance is supported by others in the industry, as he was one of the signatories of a 2018 letter expressing safety concerns about OceanGate’s unconventional Titan sub made of carbon fiber and titanium.
According to Lahey, the key difference between OceanGate’s Titan and vessels built by Triton Submarines and other industry players is the accreditation aspect.
He emphasized, “There is a stark difference between an experimental craft that conforms to no rules and a carefully and thoughtfully designed and engineered machine that is fully certified and accredited.”
Lahey believes that independent oversight of deep-sea vessels is necessary, stating, “People shouldn’t be allowed to operate vehicles that have been created without any type of third-party oversight because there’s no assurance that they’re safe.”
Reuters
Tragically, OceanGate’s Titan imploded on June 18 during an expedition to the Titanic shipwreck, resulting in the deaths of Stockton Rush and others.
The Titan had never undergone the classification process by an independent company to ensure it met industry standards.
While OceanGate argued that the certification process hindered innovation, former co-founder Guillermo Söhnlein disagreed, stating that the company prioritized safety measures beyond industry standards.
Lahey, however, disagreed with OceanGate’s perspective, emphasizing the importance of certification’s 50-year unblemished safety record for human-occupied vehicles.
He stated, “If a submersible is certified, that means it must have been built and is kept maintained in conditions that warrant continued certification, and the certification agency’s purview extends to the operation of the submersible and the vessel it is based aboard.”
According to Lahey, the Titan was a craft that “skirted the rules” and should not have carried passengers.
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