OceanGate faced problems conducting expeditions to the Titanic, according to court records
An undated file photo shows the wreck of the RMS Titanic seen from the window of an OceanGate Expeditions submarine. (Credit: Expeditions/OceanGate Files)
OceanGate Expeditions, the company that operated the missing submarine, has faced a series of mechanical problems and bad weather that forced it to cancel or postpone voyages in recent years, according to court records.
The frustrated expedition resulted in a series of lawsuits in which several high-paying customers tried to recover travel expenses they said they did not. The lawsuit claims that the company exaggerated its ability to reach the wreckage of the Titanic.
Henry Cookson Adventures Ltd, a London-based travel company, accused OceanGate of not having “seaworthy vessels” when it entered into an agreement in 2016 to carry up to nine passengers on the Titanic in 2018. paid to OceanGate, according to a civil lawsuit filed in year 2021.
OceanGate did not respond to lawsuits in court and could not be reached for comment.
A posted on the OceanGate website in 2018 he claimed that “weather and lightning-induced delays” prevented the company from completing a series of test dives, but a lawsuit by Henry Cookson Adventures disputed that description.
“The lightning strike claim was not verified and the real reason may be… because the submarine could not be certified at the time for safe operation,” the plaintiffs said.
The plaintiffs dismissed the case last July and did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.
Most recently, a Florida couple claimed in a lawsuit earlier this year that they didn’t get a refund after their planned 2018 Titanic expedition with OceanGate was repeatedly postponed, CNN previously reported. Online files for the case show no response to the lawsuit.
Several expeditions were postponed after OceanGate was forced to rebuild the Titan’s hull as it showed “cyclical fatigue” and would not be able to go deep enough to reach the wreckage of the Titanic, according to a report. GeekWire Article 2020who interviewed the CEO of the company.
Last year, OceanGate took CBS News’ David Pogue for a scuba dive in their sub, but canceled the trip due to equipment failure after descending only 30 feet. Pogue explained on the broadcast.
On the next dive, the ship lost contact with her ship and was unable to locate the wreckage. “We were lost for two and a half hours,” said one passenger who spoke to CBS News.
The company has made several dives to the bottom of the North Atlantic. At least 28 people visited the Titanic with OceanGate last year, according to court documents filed with company counsel in November.
But during one of those dives, the sub developed battery problems and had to be “manually attached to the jackup platform”, causing “moderate damage to its external components”, according to the document. OceanGate aborted the next mission “to carry out operational repairs and upgrades” but achieved shipwrecks in others, according to the file.
The company is also completing a series of dives of the Titanic wreck in 2021, according to their website.
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