The former director of marine operations for the American company OceanGate, whose submersible disappeared near the Titanic, had worried about the safety of passengers before being fired, according to court documents from 2018.
A major search operation is underway in the North Atlantic to try to find the device and its five passengers, who left on Sunday to visit the wreck of the Titanic, nearly 4,000 meters deep.
David Lochridge, a Scottish submarine pilot and diver, started working for OceanGate in 2015 as a freelance contractor, before being promoted to director of marine operations, according to court documents.
In a complaint, he claims he was fired in January 2018 after “raising significant safety concerns regarding the experimental and untested design of the Titan”, the submersible’s name.
David Lochridge had sued OceanGate in response to a lawsuit filed by the company, which accused him of disclosing confidential information.
The former manager claimed to have verbally expressed his “concerns about the security and quality control” of the Titan to the company’s management, according to court documents. “These verbal communications had been ignored. »
David Lochridge was particularly alarmed by “OceanGate’s refusal to carry out crucial and non-destructive tests” concerning the hull of the submersible.
Passengers on the Titan may be exposed to danger if the device ventures to extreme depths, he reportedly warned.
A porthole, located at the front of the submersible, was designed to withstand the pressure felt at 1,300 m depth, while OceanGate intended to make it dive up to 4,000 m, says David Lochridge.
The company “refused to pay the manufacturer to build a porthole that complied with the required depth of 4,000m,” he said.
The former manager claims to have “strongly encouraged” his employer to have the Titan inspected and certified by a specialized company.
But instead of “addressing his concerns,” OceanGate “immediately fired” David Lochridge, according to his complaint.
An agreement was finally reached between the company and its former employee in November 2018, according to Insider and New Republic, which revealed the existence of these lawsuits.
Stockton Rush, the boss of OceanGate, is one of five passengers aboard the submersible.
Members of the Marine Technology Society group, which brings together marine technology specialists, also expressed their “unanimous concern” about the Titan in a letter sent to Stockton Rush in March 2018, according to the New York Times.
They expressed concern that OceanGate’s “experimental approach” would have “negative consequences [allant de mineures à catastrophiques] which would have serious repercussions on all players in the sector”.