Sub expert and friend of OceanGate’s late CEO, Stockton Rush, warned him about the safety concerns of the Titan in a chilling email in 2019.
Karl Stanley, an American tourist submersible expert, took a trip with Rush in the doomed Titan vessel in April 2019 and said they heard cracking sounds throughout their 12000-foot expedition. The sounds were coming from the sub’s hull, and Stanley raised several safety concerns about the sub.
Stockton Rush, 61, was the CEO of OceanGate tourist company, founded by him in 2009. He was also the designer of the carbon fiber hull of his Titan vessel that perished in the Atlantic Ocean last Sunday after it set off on a voyage to see the historic shipwreck with five people on board.
Karl Stanley said he warned Rush to slow down his Titanic plans after their 12000-foot descent in the Caribbean because he was convinced the sub ‘wasn’t safe.’
Speaking to CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Friday, Karl said Rush invited him to go on a trip with him in his submersible in April 2019. During their journey, he constantly heard cracking noises from the hull and later wrote a detailed email to Stockton and raised his concerns.
The email, obtained by The New York Times, warned Rush about the cracking noises indicating that ‘an area of the hull was breaking down.’
According to Stanley, after detailing his concerns, he warned Rush to go easy with the development of his vessel and slow down his plans to visit the Titanic in that sub as he deemed it unsafe for that risky journey. However, he said he received no response from Rush.
“A useful thought exercise here would be to imagine the removal of the variables of the investors, the eager mission scientists, your team hungry for success, the press releases already announcing this summer’s dive schedule,” Karl wrote in the email.
“Imagine this project was self-funded and on your own schedule. Would you consider taking dozens of other people to the Titanic before you truly knew the source of those sounds??”
In 2018, over three dozen deep-sea explorers, oceanographers, and industry leaders warned Rush in a letter that his company’s experimental approach could lead to potentially ‘catastrophic problems’ with the Titanic mission.
“We suggested, ‘Look, you’re going too fast, and the idea of bypassing the existing classification process can lead to serious consequences,” the head of the Marine Technology Society’s committee on manned underwater vehicles, Will Kohnen, warned Rush at the time.
“You don’t know what you don’t know,” he told him.
However, Stockton didn’t bother any of the raised concerns and said the experts were being ‘too cautious.’
The first tourist trip took place in 2021.
The Titan sub is now believed to have imploded under the ocean – It was revealed on Thursday, June 22, that the Titan submersible that went missing on Sunday suffered a ‘catastrophic implosion’ which resulted in shattering pieces of the unfortunate vessel and killing everyone on board.
The US Coast Guard confirmed that a debris field on the ocean floor had been discovered in the search operation for the missing Titan submersible.
“This is an incredibly unforgiving environment down there on the sea floor, and the debris is consistent with a catastrophic implosion of the vessel,” said Mauger, the First Coast Guard District Commander.
The families of the five men were immediately informed about the tragic news.
“I can only imagine what this has been like for them, and I hope that this discovery provides some solace during this difficult time,” Mauger added.
Minutes before the press briefing, the company that operated the Titan sub issued a statement and confirmed that the crew has perished in an implosion under the deep sea.
“We now believe that our CEO Stockton Rush, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood, Hamish Harding, and Paul-Henri Nargeolet, have sadly been lost,” OceanGate said in a statement.
“These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world’s oceans. Our hearts are with these five souls and every member of their families during this tragic time. We grieve the loss of life and joy they brought to everyone they knew.”
Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
