OceanGate Expeditions, the company behind the ill-fated Titan submersible trip to the Titanic wreckage, has ceased all operations. A notice on the company's website states: 'OceanGate has suspended all exploration and commercial operations.' The announcement comes two weeks after the submersible imploded, killing all five people on board, including CEO Stockton Rush.
The company has faced intense scrutiny following the tragedy, with former employees and experts criticising the safety of the submersible. Former finance director Bonnie Carl claimed she quit after Rush asked her to captain the Titan. David Lochridge, former director of marine operations, had raised safety concerns in a 2018 lawsuit, alleging he was met with 'hostility and denial of access' to documents.
Emails obtained by The New Yorker reveal Lochridge's warnings. In one, he wrote: 'I don't want to be seen as a Tattle tale but I'm so worried he kills himself and others in the quest to boost his ego... that sub is an accident waiting to happen.' He added: 'There's no way on earth you could have paid me to dive the thing.'
Meanwhile, sandwich chain Subway faced backlash for a billboard in Georgia reading: 'Our subs don't implode.' Customers described the advert as 'distasteful' and 'sad'. Physicist Michael Guillen, who survived a near-death experience near the Titanic wreckage, called for a halt to tourist voyages, saying the ocean is a 'merciless beast' and the wreckage is 'sacred ground'.
