Co-founder of OceanGate Rejects Criticism of Submersible

Guillermo Söhnlein, a co-founder of OceanGate, has rejected some of the criticisms directed at the company over safety and certification.

Söhnlein left the company 10 years ago but still retains a minority stake.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he said those commenting on the Titan’s safety, including film director James Cameron, were not fully informed.

“People keep equating certification with safety and are ignoring the 14 years of development of the Titan sub,” he says.

"Any expert who weighs in on this, including Mr Cameron, will also admit that they were not there for the design of the sub, for the engineering of the sub, for the building of the sub and certainly not for the rigorous test programme the sub went through.”

Söhnlein said it had been a “tragic loss for the ocean exploration community” but anyone who operates in the deep ocean “knows the risk of operating under such pressure and that at any given moment… you run the risk of this kind of implosion".

He added that he thought technology and innovation can outpace regulation and developers are in a better position to understand the risks and best minimize them.