Experts once warned that the Titan ship was a 'death trap'

Exploration expert Karl Stanley once warned CEO Stockton Rush that the Titan submersible has a "very dangerous" structure and could be a death trap for passengers.

Karl Stanley, a friend of Stockton Rush, said in an interview last weekend that he told the CEO of OceanGate that the Titan submersible, made of carbon fiber and titanium, did not guarantee the safety of the people inside and believed the tragedy soon. will happen sooner or later, but has been ignored.

"Rush certainly knew the ship would end up like this," Stanley said. "I think Rush designed the ship as a death trap for billionaires."

Karl Stanley in the interview program 60 Minutes Australia broadcast on July 16. Photo: Mediaite

Rush was the operator of the Titan diving equipment, carrying 4 passengers, including two billionaires, down to explore the wreck of the Titanic in the Atlantic Ocean on June 18, but lost contact with the mother ship after an hour and 45 minutes. . US officials on June 22 confirmed that the ship was crushed at a depth of 3,800 m, killing 5 people in the compartment.

Stanley believes that the cylindrical part of the Titan's carbon fiber cylinder is the cause of the tragedy. The US Coast Guard also said that after the Titan wreck was discovered next to the Titanic, it seems that the ship's pressure compartment was broken.

Photos of the Titan debris recovered in Canada show the titanium ring structure fore and aft of the hull, reinforcing the idea that the carbon fiber pressure-resistant compartment could not withstand the water pressure at that depth.

How did the Titan submersible go missing? Click image to see details.

Stanley is the owner of a deep sea exploration company in Honduras. During a dive aboard the Titan with Rush to a depth of 3,600 meters in the waters off the Bahamas in April 2019, he heard a cracking sound in the compartment and sent Rush an alert email.

"By monitoring the noise from the hull, it is possible to know that it is about to fail so that they can react in time. When customers hear a crackling sound at a depth of 3.2 km underwater, they can calm down and obey. explanation from you or not," Stanley wrote in an email to Rush.

However, OceanGate seems to have ignored this warning and continues to use the Titan to take visitors to explore the wreck of the Titanic at a depth of 3,800 meters on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. Customers pay $250,000 for each 8-hour deep dive.

Stanley said Rush dismissed his warnings. The OceanGate boss at the time said that this was just "one of the ignorant accusations of industry experts" and continued to develop the Titan project until the tragedy. OceaGate announced its shutdown on July 6, more than two weeks after the crash.