Businessman Guilermo Shonlein, co-founder of OceanGate, who made trips to the wreck of the ship “Titanic” and owner of the submarine “Titan”, refuses to criticize the company’s safety.
“People just talk about safety certificates and ignore the 14 year development of the ‘Titan’ submarine,” Shonlein told BBC Radio 4.
Guillermo Shonlein, an American of Argentinian descent, left the company 10 years ago but still has a minority stake in OceanGate, insisting that the criticism of the ‘Titan’ disaster – which caused the deaths of the five occupants – is due to ” lack of information”.
According to the co-founder of the company “every specialist, including [o realizador de cinema James] Cameron will also admit that they were not present when the submarine was being designed, nor were they present during the engineering process and during the construction (of the ‘Titan’).”
The company’s minority partner also says the underwater vehicle was subjected to a rigorous testing program during construction.
For Shonlein, the incident is a “tragic loss for ocean explorers”, adding that anyone who “works at sea knows there is a risk of coming under (oceanic) pressure and you are at risk of an implosion”.
The United States Coast Guard confirmed on Thursday that the debris found in the area of the wreckage of the “Titanic” corresponds to the external part of the submarine that disappeared Sunday and that it suffered a “catastrophic implosion” without any leaving survivors. .
The implosion will have occurred near the wreckage of the “Titanic,” where the submarine went, Coast Guard authorities said at a news conference after notifying the victims’ families.
“The wreckage is consistent with the catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber,” said Rear Admiral John Mauger of the U.S. Coast Guard’s 1st District.
The OceanGate company, which organized the expedition, had just released information that the five passengers of the submarine “Titan” were dead.
It is still unknown whether the implosion occurred on Sunday or in the following days, with an international search for the missing submarine.
The area where the “Titan” wreck is located is 488 meters from the “Titanic” wreck.
Source: DN
