The Titanic sub disaster was 'clearly preventable' and the vessel wouldn't have been allowed in US, British, or Canadian waters uncertified, expert says

• The Titan submersible disaster was "clearly preventable," William Kohnen, an industry expert, said.
• He said regulations gave the industry a "stellar record of success" but OceanGate bypassed them.

The implosion of the Titan submersible en route to the wreckage of the Titanic with five people on board was "clearly preventable" and the vessel would not have been allowed to operated like it did in many countries' waters, including those of the US, an industry expert said.

William Kohnen, chair of the Manned Underwater Vehicles Committee of the US-based industry group Marine Technology Society, told the BBC on Friday that industry regulations are strong, but that OceanGate Expeditions got around them by operating in international waters.

"This was clearly preventable. We do have regulations," he said.

Kohnen said that industry rules meant there has been a "stellar record of success."

But he said that OceanGate's Titan submersible was able to avoid those regulations by operating in international waters "where no coast guard has jurisdiction" and because the company made it for themselves.

Kohnen said that a submersible like the Titan, with tourists on board, would not be allowed to operate in US waters by the US Coast Guard.

It would also "not be allowed to work in British coastal waters because it would have required it to be certified. Same thing in Canada," he said.

The vessel lost contact with its mothership an hour and 45 minutes into its dive on Sunday, sparking a major search operation.

But on Thursday the US Coast Guard announced that the sub appeared to have imploded amid a "catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber." It said all five passengers were believed to have been killed.

Experts raised a raft of safety concerns with the submersible both before and after it went missing.

This included a 2018 letter sent to OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, who was on the submersible when it imploded, that was signed by experts including Kohnen.

In the letter they said that the company's "experimental" approach and its decision not to pay for a leading agency to inspect the Titan could result in "catastrophic" problems.

They also said they had "unanimous concern" about the way the Titan was developed.

Former passengers of the Titan have detailed worrying issues like communication being lost on multiple trips.

One CBS journalist who went on the submersible last year was made to sign a waiver that said the Titan was an "experimental vessel" that had not been "approved or certified by any regulatory body."

Before the accident Rush had repeatedly criticized safety regulations. He also said in a 2021 interview that he had "broken some rules" with the Titan's manufacturing, highlighting the mix of carbon fiber and titanium the company used on its hull, despite solid metals like steel or titanium normally being used.

OceanGate and Rush repeatedly defended the safety of its design.

A spokesman for the mothership that launched the Titan also defended OceanGate during the search, saying the company has an "extremely safe operation."