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According to an American coast guard report released on Tuesday, security practices “seriously defective” Oceangate contributed to an implosion “Avoidable” Who killed five people aboard his submersible Titan.
Le submersible a imploded 90 minutes after diving towards the wreckage of the Titanic, On June 18, 2023, killing the CEO Stockton Rush and four passengers, including a father and his son British-Pakistanis.
The report identifies eight main factors having contributed to fatal implosion, in particular inadequate design and test processan insufficient analysis of the data and the use of a carbon fiber construction, which made the boat incapable of resisting the pressure of deep waters.
The report also reports a “Toxic working environment” At Oceangate, where dismissal was regularly used as a means of preventing staff from denouncing security problems.
In addition to the eight main factors of the tragedy, the report lists four others which could have contributed to it.
Coast guard qualifies the operational oceangate practices of “seriously defective” and underline the “Clear disparities between their written security protocols and their real practices”.
The report also indicates that Oceangate did not have complete regulations for monitoring its submersibles.
The most overwhelming conclusion of the report is undoubtedly the use by Oceangate of “intimidation tactics” To avoid regulatory examination.
“By strategically creating and exploiting regulatory confusion and surveillance problems, Oceangate was finally able to exploit Titan outside the protocols established for deep waters”indicates the report.
Jason Neubauer, of the Maritime Inquiry Commission, said that reporting will help prevent future tragedies.
“It is necessary to strengthen surveillance and offer clear options to operators who explore new concepts outside the existing regulatory framework”he said in a statement.
The family of two of the passengers killed on board the Titan submarine requested stricter regulation Following the publication of the Coast Guard report.
The British-Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his son Suleman, 19, were two of the three customers killed during the implosion of the Titan.
“No report can modify the heartbreaking result, nor fill the immeasurable vacuum left by two cherished members of our family”The family said in a statement.
“If the inheritance of Shahzada and Suleman can serve as a catalyst for a change in regulation to prevent such a loss from happening again, this will bring us a little peace.”
Who else was on board?
In addition to the Dawood and the CEO of Oceangate, Stockton Rush, the British adventurer Hamish Harding, who headed Action Aviation, a Dubai company specializing in the sale of private jets, is among the victims.
Paul-Henry Nargeolet, former French submarine and specialist in the Titanic, completes the crew of five people.
Oceangate began to take passengers on Titanic’s wreck in 2021, at the cost of $ 250,000 (216,000 euros) per person.
Following the implosion of the Titan on June 18, 2023, the company’s offices were closed on June 21 and July 6, the company had ceased all its activities.