The American company OceanGate, which operated the submersible that imploded with five people on board near the remains of the Titanic, announced Thursday that it has “suspended its exploration and commercial operations” in a message on its website.
The statement has come after the numerous criticisms received, since several days after confirming the implosion of the Titan and the death of its five passengers, the company continued to advertise trips to see the Titanic. The dives scheduled for next year were to be carried out from June 12 to 20 and from June 21 to 29, 2024.
The Titan, a small submersible about 6.5 meters long, submerged on June 18 to observe the remains of one of the most famous shipwrecks in history, that of the Titanic, and had to return to the surface about seven hours later, but contact was lost within two hours of their departure.
A large, highly publicized rescue operation was carried out to try to find the passengers. The teams eventually discovered that the device had imploded shortly after its dive, killing all five passengers instantly, including OceanGate boss Stockton Rush.
The debris, found on the seabed at a depth of almost 4,000 meters, was returned to the surface for analysis. Canada and the United States have opened several investigations to determine the causes of the implosion of the submersible.
As soon as the device disappeared, criticism focused on the OceanGate company, suspected of negligence.
In 2018 court documents, a former company executive claimed he was fired after raising serious questions about the submersible’s safety.
According to him, David Lochridge, the device’s porthole was not designed to withstand the pressure suffered at a depth of 4,000 meters, which endangered the passengers.
William Kohnen, an engineer leading a US committee on manned submersibles that brings together companies and researchers, told the BBC his group had raised concerns about the Titan.
OceanGate co-founder Guillermo Söhnlein said in late June that security was a “key element” of the company’s culture.
Instead, for $250,000, the Titan’s passengers had embarked on an exploration of the wreckage of the Titanic, one of the greatest maritime disasters of the 20th century with nearly 1,500 deaths.
