OceanGate's CEO was warned years ago about dangerous sounding noises coming from the Titanic submarine, it's been claimed.
Thursday (22 June) saw the devastating news confirmed that the missing vessel had most likely imploded after debris was found in the search area.
British billionaire Hamish Harding, French diver Paul-Henry Nargeolet, as well as father and son Shahzada and Suleman Dawood were on board the tiny submersible, called Titan, at the time.
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They had each paid $250,000 to be part of the expedition down to the wreck of the Titanic, over two miles beneath the surface of the Atlantic Ocean.
The head of OceanGate, Stockton Rush, was also on board, piloting the voyage.
Following the tragic news that all passengers have most likely died, submersible expert Karl Stanley has come out and spoken of a trip to the Bahamas in 2019 after he was invited to test the vessel out.
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During the trip, Stanley told Rush that he could hear a cracking sound.
And despite being assured by Rush that there was nothing wrong, he later sent an email, which was obtained by CNN, expressing his concerns with the safety of Titan.
In the email, he said it 'sounded like a flaw/defect in one area being acted on by the tremendous pressures and being crushed/damaged'.
Stanley was concerned that the noises may have been caused by an area of the hull 'breaking down', and urged Rush to be more cautious about his plans.
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"A useful thought exercise here would be to imagine the removal of the variables of the investors, the eager mission scientists, your team hungry for success, the press releases already announcing this summer's dive schedule," he wrote.
"Imagine this project was self funded and on your own schedule. Would you consider taking dozens of other people to the Titanic before you truly knew the source of those sounds??"
Stanley then said that he never received a response from Rush, and told CNN that the noises most likely indicated some danger.
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UNILAD has reached out to OceanGate for comment.
One would-be explorer revealed they initially signed up for the trip with friend Harding after enjoying 'a few beers' while holidaying on Sir Richard Branson's Necker Island.
However, diver Chris Brown, from Harrogate in North Yorkshire, UK, later decided against the trip - despite having paid an £80,000 deposit for the voyage.
"I found out they used old scaffolding poles for the sub's ballast. And its controls were based on computer game-style controllers," he told the Daily Beast.
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"If you're trying to build your own submarine you could probably use old scaffold poles.
"But this was a commercial craft."
Dominic Smithers