Who built the Titan submersible? David Lochridge lawsuit explored as concerns over safety design surface

A submersible named Titan has been missing since Sunday after it went down with five passengers to explore the Titanic wreckage. The Titan was built by the chief executive and founder of OceanGate, Stockton Rush. Concerns regarding the safety of the passengers aboard it have increased as only a few hours of oxygen supply is reportedly left inside the vessel.

According to the latest updates, a French robot has joined the rescue mission and will be arriving in the North Atlantic by June 21, 2023. Known as Victor 6000, it has remotely controlled arms that can cut cables and perform other activities in case a vessel gets stuck anywhere.

The robot is being operated by a crew of 25 people and although it cannot help to bring the Titan to the surface, it will hook the vessel to a ship. Olivier Lefort, an official from the French research institute Ifremer said that video equipment has been installed inside the vessel.

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David Lochridge claimed in a lawsuit that he was fired for questioning the safety of the Titan submersible

As the rescue mission for the Titan submersible continues, a former employee of OceanGate, David Lochridge, stated in a 2018 counterclaim lawsuit that he was fired from the company when he questioned the safety of the vessel. He stated in the counterclaim that he joined the company in 2015 as an engineer and submarine pilot.

David was hired to ensure the safety of the vessel. However, he had doubts regarding the design and the hull, following which OceanGate reportedly fired him. The company also filed a lawsuit where they imposed charges of contract breach, fraud, and misappropriation of trade secrets.

Lochridge was charged with sharing the company's confidential details with the Occupational Health and Safety Administration and that he filed a false report claiming that he was removed for being a whistleblower. The lawsuit was settled back in November 2018.

Although the vessel was made with safety measures, the risks were revealed to all the passengers. An individual named Mike Reiss, who traveled inside the submersible in 2022, recounted his experience for the BBC:

"You sign a waiver before you get on that mentions death three different times. They're learning as they go along … things go wrong. I've taken three different dives with this company and you almost always [lose] communication."

The New York Times also published a letter back from 2018, where Stockton Rush was warned about the catastrophic issues while the vessel was being made. OceanGate was also criticized by the Marine Technology Society for marketing the submersible by claiming that it is made as per the safety standards of DNV-GL.

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Noises heard near the spot of the Titanic wreckage

Underwater noises are being heard near the spot where the Titanic wreck is located. The sounds were heard by a Canadian P-3 aircraft every 30 minutes, but US Coast Guard has refused to comment on what it could be.

The US Coast Guard also posted a tweet where they stated that remotely operated vehicles had been relocated to find where the noises are coming from. However, there have been no positive results so far.

The journey of the submersible began on Friday and after departing from the Polar Prince mothership on Saturday, the vessel went down with five passengers on board.

Contact was lost with the vessel in 1 hour and 45 minutes. OceanGate activated an alarm at the time when the vessel was supposed to reach the surface, revealing that it had gone missing.