Titanic sub firm's co-founder defends late CEO, says he was committed to safety
OceanGate Expeditions' Titan submersible begin a descent.
Co-founder of OceanGate Expeditions on Friday (June 23) defended its late CEO Stockton Rush and said he was committed to safety and risk management. Rush died along with four others as OceanGate's Titan submersible imploded near the wreckage of Titanic, thousands of metres underwater in the Atlantic Ocean.
Guillermo Söhnlein, co-founded OceanGate with Stockton Rush in 2009. He left the company in 2013 but retained a minority stake. Rush was piloting the submersible that began its dive into the Titanic last Sunday. Debris of the vessel was found on Thursday.
"Stockton was one of the most astute risk managers I'd ever met. He was very risk-averse. He was very keenly aware of the risks of operating in the deep ocean environment, and he was very committed to safety," Söhnlein told Reuters.
"I believe that every innovation that he took ... was geared toward two goals: One, expanding humanity's ability to explore the deep ocean. And secondly, to do it as safely as possible," he said in a video interview from his home in Barcelona.
Sohnlein said that everyone should refrain from speculating about the disaster and wait for any official report prepared after the collection and analysis of the data.
"There's going to be a time for (making assessments), and I don't think right now is the right time to do that," he said.
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Talks surrounding Titan's stability and safety issues started soon after it went missing. The chatter increased after it becameclear on Thursday that the submersible had imploded and five on board were killed.
It was revealed that questions about Titan's safety were raised in 2018 during a symposium of submersible industry experts. The questions were also raised in a lawsuit by OceanGate's former head of marine operations. The lawsuit was settled later that year.
International effort
Resources from several countries had been mobilised after the submersible went missing last Sunday. Teams and equipment from the US, Canada, France and Britain spent days searching a vast sea area to pinpoint Titan.
The debris was found close to the wreckage of the Titanic. Although US Coast Guard has said it was too early to say when the explosion took place, it is believed that Titan met its fate towards the end of its dive to reach the Titanic.
The US Navy has said that it had detected "an anomaly consistent with an implosion or explosion" near Titan's location when communication with the submersible was lost.
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