Titan sub boss’s haunting seven word reply during argument over safety fears before disaster

In a transcript from a key OceanGate meeting, Stockton Rush was heard arguing with a colleague over safety concerns - as he defended travelling in the Titan sub

The CEO of Oceangate insisted “no one is dying under my watch” before the Titan sub imploded with five people onboard in June last year.

In a transcript from a key OceanGate meeting, Stockton Rush was heard arguing with former director of marine operations David Lochridge over safety concerns. After Lochridge spoke of his fears, Mr Rush replied: "I have no desire to die… I think this is one of the safest things I will ever do."

The US Coast Guard released the transcript as part of their inquiry into the June 2023 implosion while the sub made the gruelling journey 12,500ft down to the Titanic shipwreck. Five people perished in the disaster, including Mr Rush, British adventurer Hamish Harding, father and son Shahzada and Suleman Dawood, and French national Paul-Henri Nargeolet.

The deaths sparked OceanGate to suspend all operations, which led to questions about the submersible’s safety and design.

Giving evidence to the inquiry last week, Mr Lochridge said he was called to the meeting in January after drawing up a "quality inspection report", and discovered serious issues with the vessel’s design, and the way it was tested. He was recorded 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. 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 dismissed from OceanGate shortly after raising his concerns with the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration. But he claimed that the agency was sluggish and ineffective, and he was pressured into abandoning the case by OceanGate's legal team.

Coast guard officials informed the inquiry that the Titan sub had never undergone third-party inspections. The inquiry also heard that the submarine was left unprotected from weather conditions while in storage for seven months in 2022 and 2023.

Bonnie Carl, an OceanGate employee said there were "a couple of things that gave me pause" when asked if she had any safety concerns. She revealed that an engineering director refused to show her the paperwork for the sub's acrylic dome, and she found the O ring groove "looking odd" as a scuba diver.