Stockton Rush’s safety warning dismissals draw further parallels between the Titan sub and the Titanic

While the OceanGate co-founder is busy highlighting exactly why James Cameron shouldn’t be criticizing the missing submersible and why it imploded, more and more pages from the past are emerging to specify how safety concerns and issues raised about the Titan submarine’s stability were promptly dismissed by the company’s CEO, Stockton Rush. 

At this point, when the missing Titan submarine hasn’t been located and the discovery of a debris field is all that is there to confirm that an implosion killed all five people onboard the vessel, lashing out or mocking those involved in the design and making of the sub isn’t the way to go. But the recent revelations are rapidly making it a tragedy that could have been avoided if any heed was paid to the many advance warnings. 

The said developments come from BBC, who have revealed emails sent by marine adventurer, Rob McCallum, who used to consult for OceanGate. McCallum shared with the outlet how many have tried for years to convince Rush “to halt his programme” as the Titan used carbon fiber, which is “not an acceptable material” and was the only submersible in the world that “was not certified by an independent agency,” thus making it not safe for deep-dive operations. 

McCallum specified the same in his emails to Rush in 2018 wherein he stressed that by using the Titan, the OceanGate CEO was putting lives at risk. In his response, Rush underlined his frustration over how he was “tired of industry players who try to use a safety argument to stop innovation.” 

“We have heard the baseless cries of ‘You are going to kill someone’ way too often. I take this as a serious personal insult.”

In the emails, Rush blamed “submersible orthodoxy” and how OceanGate’s “engineering-focused, innovative approach” is challenging it. He also called out “industry players” for attempting to derail “new entrants from entering their small existing market.”

“I am well qualified to understand the risks and issues associated with subsea exploration in a new vehicle.”

This interaction between McCallum and Stockton Rush ended after OceanGate’s lawyers shot it down with threats of legal action. 

This is not the only time when the OceanGate CEO was implored to reevaluate the usage of the Titan submersible as the Marine Technology Society also requested in a letter to Rush about the “current experimental approach adopted by OceanGate” and warned him about the “negative outcomes” it would lead to if the issues were not properly solved. 

Though the timing and possibly the tone of Cameron’s comments are attracting criticism, these revelations are indeed a tragic reminder of how the Titanic also overlooked all the warnings that could have saved 1,500 lives.