Titan sub completed less than just 15 percent of deep dive to famed Titanic shipwreck: Report

A report has claimed that OceanGate’s Titan submersible completed less than 15 percent of its dive to the famed Titanic shipwreck. OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, along with British billionaire Hamish Harding, French diver Paul Henry Nargeolet, and Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son, Suleman, after as a result of a catastrophic implosion of the Titan.

As per a passenger's waiver viewed by Insider, the vessel previously reached the depth of the wreckage during "as few as 13" of the 90 trips the company undertook. OceanGate reportedly had a success rate of 14 per cent. In the liability waiver, the company referred to the Titan as "experimental" as many as three times. 

The Titan started taking passengers to the Titanic wreckage back in 2021, and completed more than 14 expeditions and 200 dives in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Gulf of Mexico. Two submersibles have reportedly been used.  

Several emails and messages between experts and Stockton went viral after his death, revealing that he dismissed repeated warnings that the submersible was not safe. Stockton previously said the glue holding the Titan submersible’ carbon-fibre hull together was "like peanut butter,” adding that it was thicker than Elmer's glue. He also described it as being “pretty simple.”

The Titan’s hull was constructed with aerospace-grade carbon fibre, even though submersible hulls are typically made with solid metals like steel or titanium. It has also been reported that Stockton employed college-aged interns to design the electrical systems for the Titan.

Stockton allegedly dismissed a loud bang heard from the Titan submersible, and suggested that most deep-sea vessels made noises. He once said that the submersible was struck by lightning, getting severely damaged in the process. The incident took place during a test dive in the Bahamas in 2018. "Fortunately, it was not a direct strike. A direct strike to the carbon fibre probably would have taken us totally out," Stockton said in the interview. According to an OceanGate post, the vessel had “sustained lightning damage that affected over 70% of its internal systems.”

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