OceanGate co-founder says Titanic director 'knows nothing' about TItan tragedy

22 July 2023 , 04:07

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This image shows the Titan in 2021 (Image: AP)

The co-founder of OceanGate Expeditions has hit back at Titanic director James Cameron saying he "knows nothing" about the tragedy or the company.

Mr Cameron, who has made more than 30 deep dives into the Titanic wreck himself, publicly criticised OceanGate and its lack of safety procedures for the Titan submarine.

Hamish Harding, 58, Pakistani tycoon Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his son Suleman Dawood, 19, and French Titanic expert Paul-Henry Nargeolet, 77, were the four passengers who died after the vessel lost communications to land on June 18.

CEO of OceanGate Stockton Rush, 61, was also onboard and died.

After a frantic and expensive search and worldwide media attention, the US military announced it detected the implosion on the same day that the sub went missing. Debris from the sub was discovered on the ocean floor days later, and it was believed it had crushed under pressure from the sea.

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OceanGate co-founder Guillermo Söhnlein has criticised James Cameron (BBC)

Mr Cameron, 68, criticised the decision to construct the Titan with carbon fibre instead of titanium and to not have it certified by a third-party agency.

He

last month: I think it was unconscionable that this group did not go through that rigorous process."

Mr Cameron also told the BBC he believed they hadn't sought the third-party certification because "they knew they wouldn't pass."

Now OceanGate's co-founder Guillermo Söhnlein has hit back saying that while Mr Cameron is "a very experienced ocean explorer and a sub guy himself, but knows nothing about OceanGate and that stuff".

The 58-year-old Argentine-American entrepreneur told Insider that the "media's spin on how unsafe this was is based on David Lockridge, Will Kohnen from Marine Technology Society, Jim Cameron, who knows nothing about any of this stuff … and Karl Stanley".

Mr Söhnlein also previously told TimesRadio that Mr Cameron was wrong to call OceanGate reckless.

He said: "I was involved in the early phases of the overall development program, during our predecessor subs to Titan.

Titan submersible passengers (L-R, top to bottom) Hamish Harding, Stockton Rush, Paul-Henri Nargeolet, Suleman Dawood and father Shahzada Dawood (Dirty Dozen Productions/OceanGat)

"And I know, from first-hand experience, that we were extremely committed to safety, and risk mitigation was a key part of the company culture."

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OceanGate was meant to pave the way for a new industry-leading standard, but several designs aimed at cutting costs to try and make the adventure more profitable may have led to the disaster, engineering experts have claimed.

In comparison to the US government's Alvin sub - which has completed around 4,500 deep sea dives in the past 50 years, it was found the Alvin was normally transported to the dive site on deck of the mothership.

While in comparison, the Titan was towed across the waters of the North Atlantic on its small dive platform, which could have resulted in some unknown damage.

Alahna Kindred