OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush once compared the glue used to hold the doomed Titan submersible together to “peanut butter.”
Rush made the statement in a 2018 video on the company’s YouTube channel, saying the glue used on the sub was “pretty thick, so it’s not like Elmer’s Glue, it’s like peanut butter.”
The deceased CEO also said the vessel’s carbon-fiber hull design was “pretty simple” and that “if we mess it up, there’s not a lot of recovery.”
The submersible departed off the coast of St. John’s, Newfoundland, June 18 but lost contact with the mother ship less than two hours after it began its descent in search of the Titanic wreckage. The imploded Titan debris was found days later near the infamous shipwreck.
Questions about the safety of the submersible were raised not only in the immediate aftermath but for years before the doomed mission. At least some of the sub’s electrical systems were allegedly designed by interns.
“The whole electrical system – that was our design, we implemented it and it works,” 2017 WSU Everett graduate Mark Walsh said in 2018. “We are on the precipice of making history and all of our systems are going down to the Titanic. It is an awesome feeling!” (RELATED: Titanic Submersible CEO Allegedly Used Interns To Design Sub’s Electrical Systems)
Rush made comments in 2019 about “obscenely safe” regulations in the commercial sub industry. Rush argued the allegedly strict rules prevented innovation. Marine Technology Society member Bart Kemper said Rush was likely able to dodge some regulations by deploying the sub in international waters where U.S. laws aren’t applicable, according to Insider.
Meanwhile, David Lochridge, OceanGate’s former director of marine operations, warned the company in 2018 that there was a “lack of non-destructive testing performed on the hull of the Titan.” Lochridge later sued the company after alleging he was wrongfully terminated for raising the concerns.