A transcript has revealed an argument over safety concerns (Picture: Getty/Reuters)
A transcript has revealed an argument over safety concerns (Picture: Getty/Reuters)

The CEO and captain of the doomed Titan sub insisted ‘no one is dying under my watch’ in an argument over safety concerns.

A transcript from a key OceanGate meeting revealed Stockton Rush got into a heated exchange with former director of marine operations David Lochridge.

Mr Lochridge raised safety concerns with Mr Rush, to which he replied: ‘I have no desire to die… I think this is one of the safest things I will ever do.’

The transcript was released by the US Coast Guard as part of their inquiry into the implosion in June 2023 while the sub journeyed to the Titanic shipwreck, BBC reports.

Five people, including Mr Rush, were killed. British adventurer Hamish Harding and father and son Shahzada and Suleman Dawood died alongside French national Paul-Henri Nargeolet.

OceanGate suspended all operations following the deaths, which led to questions about the submersible’s safety and design.

Mr Lochridge, who gave evidence the inquiry last week, said he was called to the meeting in Juanuary after he compiled a ‘quality inspection report’.

Former OceanGate's Director of Marine Operations, David Lochridge, center, stands during his testimony, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, for the Titan marine board formal hearing inside the Charleston County Council Chambers, in North Charleston, S.C. (Andrew J. Whitaker/The Post And Courier via AP, Pool)
Former OceanGate’s Director of Marine Operations, David Lochridge gives evidence (Picture: AP)

Titan submersible passengers (L-R, top to bottom) Hamish Harding, CEO and founder Stockton Rush, Paul-Henri Nargeolet, Suleman Dawood and his father Shahzada Dawood (Picture: AFP)

He said he found serious problems with the vessel’s design and the way it was tested.

The meeting recorded him saying: ‘I am addressing what I view as safety concerns, concerns I have mentioned verbally… which have been dismissed by everybody.’

Mr Rush then replied: ‘I’ve got a nice granddaughter. I am going to be around. I understand this kind of risk, and I’m going into it with eyes open and I think this is one of the safest things I will ever do.

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Mandatory Credit: Photo by EyePress News/Shutterstock (13979464o) File photo the Titan submersible, operated by OceanGate Expeditions to explore the wreckage of the sunken SS Titanic. Rescuers were scouring thousands of square miles in the remote North Atlantic for a fourth day on Wednesday June 21, 2023, racing against time to find a missing submersible after it disappeared while taking wealthy tourists to see the wreckage of the Titanic in deep waters off Canada's coast. The 21-foot Titan has the capacity to stay underwater for 96 hours, according to its specifications - giving the five people aboard until Thursday (June 22) morning before the air runs out. One pilot and four passengers were inside the submersible early on Sunday (June 18) when it lost communication with a ship on the surface about an hour and 45 minutes into its dive.(OceanGate Expeditions/Handout via EYEPRESS) Image of the Missing Titan Submarine, Atlantic Ocean - 22 Jun 2023
Inside the submersible (Picture: EyePress News/Shutterstock)

‘I can come up with 50 reasons why we have to call it off and we fail as a company. I’m not dying. No one is dying under my watch – period.’

Mr Lochridge was fired shortly after the meeting but he took his concerns to the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

But he said the agency was slow and failed act, and he was pressured into dropping the case by OceanGate’s lawyers.

FILE - Debris from the Titan submersible, recovered from the ocean floor near the wreck of the Titanic, is unloaded from the ship Horizon Arctic at the Canadian Coast Guard pier in St. John's, Newfoundland, Wednesday, June 28, 2023. OceanGate, the company that owned a submersible that imploded on its way to explore the wreck of the Titanic, killing all five onboard, said Thursday, July 6, that it has suspended operations. (Paul Daly/The Canadian Press via AP, File) 13510649
Debris from the Titan submersible, recovered from the ocean floor near the wreck of the Titanic (Picture: AP)

Coast guard officials told the inquiry the Titan hull was never subject to third-party checks.

It was also heard how the sub was left exposed to weather and elements while in storage for seven months in 2022 and 2023.

Bonnie Carl, an employee at OceanGate, said there were ‘a couple of things that gave me pause’ when asked about if she had any safety concerns.

She said an engineering director would not let her see paperwork for the sub’s acrylic dome, and described the O ring groove as ‘looking odd’ as a scuba diver.

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