Titan sub search: experts raised safety concerns about missing deep-sea vessel in 2018
- Safety fears were previously raised about the Titan submersible, which went missing on a dive to the Titanic shipwreck
- Passengers who join the vessel’s deep-sea tours must sign a waiver that mentions the risk of death several times
Experts raised safety concerns in 2018 about the submersible vessel that has been missing since Sunday, when it descended with tourists on a deep ocean journey to view the wreckage of the Titanic.
The pilot and four passengers are aboard and the available oxygen on the vehicle has been forecast to run out by Thursday morning EDT (Thursday evening Hong Kong time).
The Titan submersible is a 6.7-metre-long vessel operated by Everett, Washington-based OceanGate Expeditions.
It first made a voyage dive to 4,000 metres (13,100 feet) in December of 2018, according to the company’s website, and first dove to the site of the Titanic – about 3,800 metres beneath the Atlantic – in 2021. It planned to make 18 such dives this year.
But some industry experts and a whistle-blowing employee had worried about its safety, expressing concern that OceanGate opted against certifying the Titan through third parties such as the American Bureau of Shipping, a leading classifier of submersibles, or the European group DNV, an independent quality assurance and risk management company that sets standards for the design safety of underwater vehicles.