It’s probably for the best.
Time to Stop
OceanGate has announced that it is suspending “all exploration and commercial operations” ABC News reports, after its Titan submersible horrendously imploded, killing all five people on board.
The doomed submersible, piloted by OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, was declared missing on June 18, when it lost contact less than two hours into its 12,500-foot descent to the wreck of the Titanic.
After a four-day international search effort, remnants of the vessel were discovered near the site of the ruined ship, and as of last week, debris containing presumed human remains was recovered by the US Coast Guard, who have since launched an investigation.
OceanGate did not elaborate on its decision to cease operations, but its website, where the announcement was made, still advertises its $250,000 expeditions.
Reckless Risk-Taking
Though an official conclusion is pending, many alarming details surrounding the submersible’s safety have already come to light — and none of them look good for OceanGate and its late CEO, who appears to have ignored countless warning signs.
For one, it was uncovered that an OceanGate employee was fired years ago after blowing the whistle on the submersible’s “catastrophic” problems.
Other cases of flaunted safety were more obvious. In a now-viral interview, Rush actually seemed to take pride in the questionable construction of the submersible, showing off the cheap Logitech gamepad that was used to control it.
Rush had also reportedly bragged about using expired carbon fiber to make the hull of the submersible — a material which, even in pristine condition, is ill-suited for the job.
Last year, the CEO even told a reporter that he thought that there was a point at which safety was “just pure waste.”
Uncharted Territory
An ongoing investigation led by the Coast Guard will have to determine what exactly went wrong with the submersible. It could be months, however, before we have any definitive answers.
According to Tom Hauter, a former investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board, the nature of the submersible disaster is “uncharted territory.”
“This is the first fatality on a passenger carriage submarine I can think of and certainly the first one going into Titanic at this depth,” Hauter told ABC.
More on the submersible disaster: A Visibly Upset James Cameron Compares Submarine Implosion to Sinking of the Titanic