Missing Titanic submersible: ‘Father Neptune has no patience for humanity’ – expert’s warning about Titan in 2018 was ignored
An expert who raised concerns about the Titan submersible five years ago has told Sky News that his warnings were not heeded.
Back in 2018, William Kohnen had expressed fears that the vessel’s design and construction were not being tested by an independent third party.
In a letter to OceanGate – the company that owns the missing sub – he had warned that a “single negative event” could undo an “enviable” safety track record that spanned 40 years.
‘Debris field’ found in search for Titan – live updates
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‘Why were you worried about Titan?’
On behalf of industry experts, Mr Kohnen had written: “Our apprehension is that the current experimental approach adopted by OceanGate could result in negative outcomes (from minor to catastrophic) that would have serious consequences for everyone in the industry.”
Speaking to Sky News after a “debris field” was found at the search site for Titan, Mr Kohnen said: “Father Neptune has absolutely no patience for humanity – if we get it wrong, we get it wrong and we pay the price.
“If we play in this game, we have to be absolutely sure of ourselves.
“We say we have rules and regulations – well they come because of mistakes, because of things we have learned, and we embody that in a process of certification.”
The five men on board the submersible are feared dead – with the US Coast Guard confirming that the vessel had suffered a “catastrophic implosion”.
Mr Kohnen’s letter, from the Marine Technology Society, had been addressed to OceanGate’s CEO Stockton Rush, who was the sub’s pilot.
As well as lacking international safety certification, an old PlayStation controller is used to steer Titan, which Mr Rush defended as “super durable”.
OceanGate’s website adds: “The use [of] off-the-shelf components helped to streamline the construction and makes it simple to operate and replace parts in the field.”
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‘Two friends of mine are gone’
Mr Kohnen had argued that it was critical for the company to spend additional time and expense on adhering to industry standards – but Mr Rush had claimed regulators were holding OceanGate back and stifling innovation.
“OceanGate was taking a strategy of ‘well, we intentionally break the rules because we can do it better and faster’,” Mr Kohnen said.
He explained: “Nobody has made a five-person submersible going 4,000m. Most of the submarines – there’s 10 submarines that will go 4,000m or deeper in the world – they are all certified and they tend to be three-people vessels with one pilot and two occupants for research.
“To do five passengers, it does push the envelope and you’ve got to do the numbers right.”
Mr Kohnen added that there are vessels capable of sending passengers to depths of 6,000m and 7,000m, but each went through a certification process.
“Submitting it to third-party review on a new design, we’re doing ourselves a favour and following the North Star in our industry,” he said.
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Ex-Titan passenger: ‘It was not safe’
Arthur Loibl – who travelled aboard Titan as a passenger in 2021 – told Sky News that he felt the vessel “was not safe”, and “everybody was nervous” on the trip.
Communication with Titan was lost last Sunday during a voyage to the Titanic shipwreck in the North Atlantic off the coast of Canada.
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Conor McGregor has spoken out after losing a civil rape case as a feminist march was held in Dublin.
The MMA fighter was accused of raping Nikita Hand, who was awarded €248,603 (£206,000) in damages on Friday after a jury at Dublin’s High Court found McGregor assaulted her in a Dublin hotel in 2018.
Nikita Hand.
Pic: PA
Posting on social media, the 36-year-old said: “I know I made mistakes”.
It comes as hundreds of people in Dublin staged a demonstration in “utter solidarity” with Ms Hand.
Posting on X, McGregor said: “People want to hear from me, I needed time. I know I made mistakes. Six years ago, I should have never responded to her outreaches. I should have shut the party down. I should never have stepped out on the woman I love the most in the world. That’s all on me.
“As much as I regret it, everything that happened that night was consensual and all the witnesses present swore to that under oath. I have instructed my legal team to appeal the decision.
“I can’t go back and I will move forward. I am beyond grateful to my family, friends and supporters all over the world who have stayed by my side.
“That’s it. No more. Getting back to the gym- the fight game awaits!”
Conor McGregor (centre) and partner Dee Devlin leave the High Court in Dublin after he lost a civil case.
Pic: PA
Speaking outside court after the decision, an emotional Ms Hand said the two-week-long civil case had been a “nightmare” but that “justice has been served”.
“It’s something that I’ll never forget for the rest of my life,” she added.
In Dublin on Monday night, a march in support of Ms Hand was organised by the socialist feminist movement group Rosa to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
The demonstration in Dublin.
Pic: PA
Ruth Coppinger (left) and Natasha O’Brien at the solidarity march.
Pic: PA
Participants chanted “stand with Nikita” and “no more fear, no more shaming, we reject your victim blaming” as they carried signs and banners through the capital’s streets.
Ruth Coppinger, a councillor and general election candidate, and Natasha O’Brien, who became a public figure after a soldier received a suspended sentence for assaulting her, both spoke at the event.
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Ms Coppinger said Ms Hand was “an incredibly brave woman” and that she was watching the event via a live stream.
Ms O’Brien was cheered as she said she’d been “in awe” of Ms Hand’s courage and that Ireland had let out a collective “sigh of relief” after the jury found in Ms Hand’s favour.
McGregor was accused of having “brutally raped and battered” Ms Hand.
She was taken in an ambulance to the Rotunda Hospital the following day where the paramedic who assessed her told the court she had not seen “someone so bruised” in a long time.
Following eight days of evidence, and three days of closing speeches and the judge’s instructions to the jury, the jury of eight women and four men spent six hours and ten minutes deliberating before returning their verdict.
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