The deceased passengers are believed to have signed liability waivers, since some riders aboard previous OceanGate trips have said that they signed such documents before their expeditions.
In litigation started by OceanGate, an ex-employee filed a counterclaim alleging he was wrongfully terminated for raising safety concerns, including that a viewing porthole was rated to a depth far less than necessary to reach the Titanic wreckage. The lawsuit, which was eventually settled out of court, also claimed that OceanGate did not adequately test the hull. The lawsuit was settled on confidential terms and OceanGate also asserted that the employee was not an engineer.
The letter, which was never approved to be sent to OceanGate, was leaked to Rush, William Kohnen, the chair of the committee of experts behind the letter, told ABC News. OceanGate heeded some of the comments made in the letter, Kohnen said. "When OceanGate was founded the goal was to pursue the highest reasonable level of innovation in the design and operation of manned submersibles," the blog said. "By definition, innovation is outside of an already accepted system."
OceanGate has conducted over 14 expeditions and more than 200 dives across the Pacific, Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico, according to the company's website.
Malaysia Latest News, Malaysia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Titan sub disaster raises question over who insured OceanGate for voyageSuing OceanGate for the Titan disaster could be difficult for the victims' families, but not impossible.
Read more »
Take video tour of missing OceanGate Titan submersibleThe missing OceanGate submersible Titan has still not been found after it became lost on an expedition to see the infamous Titanic shipwreck at the bottom of the North Atlantic earlier this week.
Read more »
Suburban man took trip to Titanic wreckage on OceanGate's Titan submersible with CEO Stockton RushDavid Waud of Lake Forest was able to join an OceanGate expedition to see the Titanic wreckage in the Titan submersible two years ago with now-missing CEO Stockton Rush.
Read more »
Years before Titan sub went missing, OceanGate was warned about 'catastrophic' safety issuesYears before a tourist submersible went missing on an expedition to explore the Titanic shipwreck with five passengers on board, red flags about safety issues emerged about the company that designed and operated the vessel.
Read more »
Missing Titanic sub: experts raised safety concerns about OceanGate Titan in 2018Concerns were raised back in 2018 about the safety of a submersible vessel that has been missing since Sunday, when it descended with tourists on a deep ocean journey to view the wreckage of the Titanic.
Read more »
Former Titan submersible passenger describes experience on now-missing OceanGate sub: 'Comfortable, but not luxurious'As crews continued the frantic search for a submersible that went missing while taking five people to the wreckage of the Titanic Wednesday, a former passenger of the Titan is holding onto hope it will be found.
Read more »