"OceanGate's Titan Submersible: Success Rate, Safety Concerns, and Titanic Dives" By True Helper

 OceanGate's Titan submersible reportedly made successful dives to the depth of the Titanic wreck on only 13 out of 90 recorded attempts, according to a passenger waiver released by the company.

Based on a waiver reviewed by Insider, the submersible completed "as few as 13" dives to the Titanic depth of 3,800 meters. This suggests a success rate of approximately 14% for dives to the Titanic site, leading to questions about the submersible's performance.

OceanGate claims to have completed over 14 expeditions and 200 dives in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Gulf of Mexico using two submersibles, as stated on their website. Their first su


ccessful dive to the Titanic took place in 2021, as reported by Forbes.

However, concerns have been raised by experts regarding the design of the Titan submersible, especially following the tragic incident on June 18, which resulted in the loss of all five people on board. Rob McCallum, a consultant who worked with OceanGate in 2009, had expressed safety concerns to CEO Stockton Rush as early as 2018. McCallum's observations, which included remarks about the ad hoc engineering approach employed by the company, were dismissed, as indicated by email correspondence reviewed by Insider.

One of the significant concerns raised by experts was the absence of certification or approval from regulatory bodies, as disclosed in the waiver. Additionally, the Titan submersible's construction involved the use of materials that are not commonly employed in manned submersibles.

Guillermo Söhnlein, OceanGate's co-founder, defended the submersible, stating that it underwent rigorous testing over a 14-year period and is considered to be highly robust, according to a statement made to BBC News.

However, a former passenger named Brian Weed shared with Insider that the submersible failed a test dive in 2021 due to malfunctioning thrusters. It remained submerged for over two hours and never descended beyond 100 feet. Furthermore, tests conducted at the Deep Ocean Test Facility, affiliated with the United States Naval Academy, revealed signs of cyclic fatigue in the carbon-fiber hull at lower depths, as reported by GeekWire. Consequently, planned dives to the Titanic in 2018, 2019, and 2020 had to be canceled.

When contacted by Insider, an OceanGate representative declined to comment on the matter.