- A former OceanGate subcontractor said Titan's design uses "off-the-shelf" components on purpose.
- He argued this approach cut down on research and development, as well as costs.
An engineer who helped develop the Titan submersible said that many of its components were "off-the-shelf" by design, CNN reported.
As of early Thursday, the vessel and its five occupants remain missing, having lost contact with the surface on Sunday en route to the wreck of the Titanic.
Doug Virnig told CNN that using pre-existing components to build the submersible was a deliberate decision. Virnig, whom the network identified as a former OceanGate subcontractor, is listed on his LinkedIn profile as being currently employed in operations by the company.
OceanGate has made its "off-the-shelf" approach no secret. Stockton Rush — the CEO of the company who is among the missing passengers — used this phrase to describe parts on the vessel, including one component he told CBS he got from a camping store.
The vessel is piloted with a video-game controller, he also said in the CBS interview.
Talking to CNN, Virnig said: "It seems kind of cheesy, but if you knew the amount of technology that was packed in that controller and its capabilities, and the amount of money that it costs to develop something like that, it's just off the charts."
"So if you can take these components off the shelf and incorporate them into a project like this, where you don't have the research and development timelines and expense, that I believe is a wise choice," he added.
Indeed, commentators have since noted that the video-game controller is, in fact, one of the submersible's more standard features, one that is often used in US Navy subs.
But the company's approach to industry standards has flown in the face of wider concerns.
In 2018, the Marine Technology Society — a leading body of marine professionals — wrote to Rush expressing "unanimous concern" over what it described as OceanGate's "experimental" approach.
The society said Rush was "misleading" the public about the company's intent to adhere to industry-wide risk-management rules. Insider was unable to independently corroborate this claim.
Titan is constructed, per OceanGate's website, with a combination of carbon fiber and titanium, a departure from the more common use of titanium alone.
According to an OceanGate blog post, Titan is not classified according to industry standards — a decision taken in favor of "innovation," the company said.
Rush has talked several times about the balance between innovation and safety, saying in a 2019 interview that the ocean exploration field is "obscenely safe" and that this had held back progress. OceanGate did not respond to Insider's request for comment on these remarks.
Chris Brown, a would-be passenger and explorer, told CNN Wednesday that the vessel seemed to him like something you might throw together to cross a river. He said this was among the reasons he canceled his trip to see the Titanic in 2018.
"There was industrial casing being used as ballast," he said. "They got like an Xbox controller steering it. The parts seemed off the shelf."