What Do You Think About This Mini-Sub deal?

[SoonerP226]

And the blame game begins.


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Missing Titanic Sub Once Faced Massive Lawsuit Over Depths It Could Safely Travel To​

Court documents reveal a former OceanGate employee had several safety complaints over the tourist submersible—and then he was fired.​

Daniel Strauss11:59 a.m. ET

David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe/Getty Images

The tourist submersible that went missingwhile exploring the Titanic wreck was previously the target of safety complaints from an employee of OceanGate, the parent company that owns the sub and runs tourist expeditions of the wreck. That employee complained specifically that the sub was not capable of descending to such extreme depths before he was fired.
That’s according to legal documents obtained by The New Republic. According to the court documents, in a 2018 case, OceanGate employee David Lochridge, a submersible pilot, voiced concerns about the safety of the sub. According to a press release, Lochridge was director of marine operations at the time, “responsible for the safety of all crew and clients.”
The concerns Lochridge voiced came to light as part of a breach of contract case related to Lochridge refusing to greenlight manned tests of the early models of the submersible over safety concerns. Lochridge was fired, and then OceanGate sued him for disclosing confidential information about the Titan submersible. In response, Lochridge filed a compulsory counterclaim where he alleged wrongful termination over being a whistleblower about the quality and safety of the submersible.
Lochridge, in his counterclaim, alleged that “rather than addressing Lochridge’s concerns, OceanGate instead summarily terminated Lochridge’s employment in efforts to silence Lochridge and to avoid addressing the safety and quality control issues.”
The counterclaim said that:

The counterclaim also details a meeting at OceanGate’s Everett, Washington, facility with engineering staff where “several individuals had expressed concerns over to the Engineering Director.” The OceanGate CEO, Stockton Rush, asked Lochridge to conduct a quality inspection of the Titan. Per the complaint:

Lochridge initially verbally expressed concerns about the safety and quality of the Titan submersible to OceanGate executive management, but those concerns were ignored. Lochridge “identified numerous issues that posed serious safety concerns, and offered corrective action and recommendations for each.” Lochridge was particularly concerned about “non-destructive testing performed on the hull of the Titan” but he was “repeatedly told that no scan of the hull or Bond Line could be done to check for delaminations, porosity and voids of sufficient adhesion of the glue being used due to the thickness of the hull.” He was also told there was no such equipment that could conduct a test like that.
After Lochridge issued his inspection report, OceanGate officials convened a meeting on January 19, 2018, with the CEO, human resources director, engineering director, Lochridge, and the operations director. Per the complaint:

The Titanic is estimated to sit on the ocean floor at a depth of nearly 4,000 meters.
Paying passengers wouldn’t know or be informed about Lochridge’s concerns, according to his complaints. They also wouldn’t be informed “that hazardous flammable materials were being used within the submersible.” Lochridge expressed concerns about the Titan again. But OceanGate didn’t address those concerns, and Lochridge was fired.
The case between Lochridge and OceanGate didn’t advance much further, and a few months later the two parties settled.

So, basically the only bright side to this is that the dumb SOB who was ultimately responsible for this catastrophe was also a victim of it.

 

[okietool]

Rich people don’t do get killed having adventures. It’s a hoax to get out of taxes and alimony.

 

[mr ed]

Maybe the was warranty was for 11999 feet and they went over.

 

[TANSTAAFL]

 

[HoLeChit]

Debris found. The US govt needs to walk away and not waste anymore tax dollars, but I’m sure we’ll be funding the recovery mission for this private sub.

I don’t think we’re too terribly involved. Maybe one vessel and an aircraft from what I’ve seen. Canada has an aircraft and at least one boat, there’s a French research vessel with a underwater robot thing, and a pipeline vessel of some sort with a work robot that have been doing most of the work. The mother ship for the lost sub is also there. I think that we’re just taking charge since we’re the closest, and the best dang nation on the planet.

 

[HoLeChit]

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Doubt it to some extent, but also I dont doubt it. I tell you what though, I’m not surprised.

 

[O4L]

I don’t think we’re too terribly involved. Maybe one vessel and an aircraft from what I’ve seen. Canada has an aircraft and at least one boat, there’s a French research vessel with a underwater robot thing, and a pipeline vessel of some sort with a work robot that have been doing most of the work. The mother ship for the lost sub is also there. I think that we’re just taking charge since we’re the closest, and the best dang nation on the planet.

USCG said during press conference that they have nine vessels on sight. Will be demobilizing them over the next 24 hours.

 

[DavidMcmillan]

Those assets would have been doing something anyway.

 

[cowadle]

news has reported that the navy recorded the implosion and notified the coast guard several days ago.

 

[WoodsCraft]

news has reported that the navy recorded the implosion and notified the coast guard several days ago.

Well glad to hear that the SOSUS net still works given the current state of things , and our leadership.