by A long-term report released by the American Coast Guard on Tuesday identified striking problems with the Titan-hundred Pupper and the company that led it, just over two years after five people were killed when the deep-sea vessel imploded on the way to Titanic Wreckage.
From technical issues to corporate culture, the document of more than 300 pages described the many steps that lead to an epic but “to be prevented” disaster and identified valuable lessons that could prevent future disasters according to the coast guard.
The implosion of the 2023 of the immersion at the bottom of the ocean floor killed all five people on board, including Stockton Rush, the founder and CEO of Oceangate, the company that operated the Titan, and led to a day -long international search effort until debris was found.
Although the report was shocking in his frankness about the mistakes made, market leader William Kohnen said that the long -term concerns ‘officially’.
Kohnen, the president and CEO of Hymdospace Group Inc and a witness in last year’s hearings about the Titan – Podel, said Tuesday that the issues discussed in the report are part of a constant conversation in the industry that is long before the incident – but is now in front.
As the research of the American Coast Guard is coming to an end, Kohnen, who expressed the safety problems to hurry in 2018, reflects on the following steps for a growing industry that is suitable for both scientific research and ultra-rich tourism.
Better regulations are needed
The recommendations in Tuesday’s report made it clear that better regulations in the immersed industry are essential.
“The two-year study has identified several contributing factors that led to this tragedy, which has learned valuable lessons to prevent a future event,” said Jason Neubauer, the American coast guard Marine Board of Investigation President, in a statement.
The MBI, the highest level of research by the American Coast Guard, called on the agency to pursue a new regulation that will be built and maintain all submissions in the US under uniform standards.
The report quotes “the lack of extensive and effective regulations for the supervision and operation” of submissions designed or operated in the US.
In the case of Titan, the MBI found the “primary contributing factors” to the implosion the “insufficient design, certification, maintenance and inspection process of Oceangate,” according to a release of the coast guard.
Kohnen said that the need for extensive regulations is something that the industry has been preaching in the desert for 20 years. “
As the immersioned industry continues to grow, its rules are much necessary in the same way as rules were made while creating highways, he said.
“By the time you have hundreds of cars, someone with a very simple idea came to draw a line in the middle of the road and say: look, everyone agrees that you are driving on either side of the line,” said Kohnen. “That’s really what we have to do here.”
“We don’t find the wheel out again. It’s just a matter of scrubbing, making better and then involving other maritime authorities,” he added.
Kohen also argued for a third -party certification system for the safety of immersion and their teams, and said it would help to keep the standards high on the borders.
Future paid passengers on immersion will not understand the risk that they take if the industry continues without drawing up certification from third parties or other regulations, Kohnen argued.
“An exemption does not work if the person who signs it cannot give an informed permission,” he said, adding: “Informed permission is simply more complicated for the following two generations, because there is so much technology about how do you ensure that a citizen understands the risk that he takes?”
Ethical standards in leadership
Another striking problem found in the report of the American Coast Guard was the “poisonous workplace culture” in Oceangate, set by Rush and his management style.
Rush had much of the decision -making power while he fulfilled several roles within the company, his power centralized and checks and balances of the company’s board avoided.
“In general, the MBI is of the opinion that Mr Rush deliberately set the Oceangate board and did not ask his collective expertise so that he could be uncontrolled with his vision of carrying out titanical expeditions, regardless of any assembly security problems,” the report said.
When asked whether the culture problems are isolated by Oceangate or reflect a care -wide care, Kohnen said that he regards this situation as a ‘citizen losing.’
“We teach our younger to become leaders and to push and believe in what they do, but when you are in a high -level leadership, you have a huge responsibility not to create chaos,” he said. “This is really difficult. And I think Oceangate, in the lead of Stockton (Rush) – it was a problem, and we communicated that with him.”
William Kohnen from Hydrospace Group Inc. During the hearing of the US Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation, testifies in the loss of June 2023 on 25 September 2024. – Kate Kilroy/AP
Five years before the implosion, Kohnen, who at the time was the chairman of the Navy Technology Society – a group of leading oceans engineers, scientists, policymakers and educators – a letter to hurry on behalf of around 40 other industrial leaders who expressed concern about the safety of the Titan – -hundred compel. Rush and Kohnen debated about some of the most important concerns of the letter during a call.
Kohnen eventually convinced OcEngate CEO to change part of the language on their website to display his experimental status, but felt as if the public still did not understand that the safety of the immersion was not verified.
“Nobody limited them from innovating and coming up with new technologies,” said Kohnen, claiming that Oceangate had the right to dive on themselves without passengers. But the endangering of others who did not understand the situation is where they exceed the border, he said.
Building relationships within the industry
Since the implosion of the immersion more than two years ago, the industry has spent time thinking about the importance of a standard across the board, Kohnen said.
“People pay attention,” he said.
He thinks that another important step is to ensure that different facets of industry and maritime authorities are connected and build relationships with each other. Being able to call a colleague and get their opinion about a situation, may save lives, he said.
“This five -minute conversation can do a long way to avoid some major problems,” said Kohnen. “So just when we think it seems too stupid to be a real problem, you find out, no, it’s a real problem, and it’s not that easy to find out if it seems.”
Kohnen said that the annual conference of the industry will be organized at the first international location in its history, hoping to get more presence from countries around the world and to encourage international cooperation in regulations.
“It has made it a bit more difficult because these vehicles travel across international boundaries,” he said. “So it’s not enough to only have a local or national solution. It really needs everyone who holds hand here and says: look, we are going to agree a bit that we look at these things in the same way.”
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