A former employee of OceanGate raised concerns about the safety of the company’s CEO and the Titan submersible in an email sent years ago. The email referred to the CEO, Stockton Rush, as a potential risk to himself and others due to safety issues with the submersible. The employee, David Lochridge, stated in the email that he would not dive in the Titan even if he were paid to do so. These alarming concerns were recently brought to light in a report by The New Yorker.
Tragically, Rush and four other individuals lost their lives last month when the Titan imploded during a dive to the sunken wreckage of the Titanic. OceanGate had been offering tourist expeditions to the Titanic for a hefty price of $250,000 per ticket.
Lochridge had worked at OceanGate from 2016 to 2018, and CNN previously reported on his involvement in a legal dispute with the company after he was fired from his position as director of marine operations. Lochridge claimed he was wrongfully terminated after pointing out design flaws in the Titan submersible in a report.
The email expressing concerns about the Titan’s safety was sent to Rob McCallum, a dive expert who chose not to be associated with OceanGate’s Titanic expedition due to Rush’s refusal to have the sub-classed by a marine certification agency. Additionally, Lochridge referred to the Titan as “a lemon” in another communication with McCallum.
It is worth noting that Lochridge was not the only former employee or industry expert to raise concerns about the Titan. In 2018, over three dozen ocean technology experts co-signed a letter expressing unanimous concern about the Titan’s design and the plans to dive to the Titanic.
During its dive to the Titanic on June 18, the Titan lost contact with its host ship after 1 hour and 45 minutes. Authorities have since recovered debris from the vessel and discovered presumed human remains in the search area near the Titanic.
The other individuals on board the ill-fated expedition were British businessman and adventurer Hamish Harding, French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, and Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son, Suleman.
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