Friend of late OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush sent ominous email about Titan sub in 2019

A submersible expert and friend of the deceased OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush who went aboard the Titan sub in 2019 sent a series of emails with warnings about the safety of the vessel.

As we now know, the Titan suffered a catastrophic implosion last week while journeying 12,000 ft underwater to visit the Titanic wreckage, killing all five people on board including Rush.

Pieces of the vessel are currently being recovered as part of the investigation into what exactly happened to cause this catastrophe.

Also recovered by the US Coast Guard are presumed human remains which medical professionals will soon examine.

Since the disaster, a number of people have spoken out and said they had the opportunity to go onboard the Titan submersible but decided against it after having concerns about the vessel's safety.

There are others who have been aboard the vessel before who also voiced worries about how safe and secure it was, with one of those being submersible expert Karl Stanley, who sent Stockton Rush a series of emails laying out his safety concerns in 2019.

Stanley, who operates his own deep-sea exploration company, had been aboard the Titan sub in 2019 and said he heard a loud cracking sound, according to an email obtained by the New York Times.

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Further emails between Stanley and Rush which have been obtained by Insider showed a conversation between the two where the OceanGate CEO was urged by his friend to do more safety tests before using the sub for commercial trips under the sea.

Stanley told Rush he had 'a few thoughts' on the vessel's safety and that he thought the Titan needed substantially more testing before tickets went on sale.

He wrote in an email that '2-7 dives to operating depth are too few to launch an expedition selling 6 figure tickets in the middle of the ocean'.

He instead recommended 50 tests be done before OceanGate launched the Titan as a passenger experience and also wrote specifically about what he thought was a particular weakness in the hull.

OceanGate

"I think that hull has a defect near that flange, that will only get worse. The only question in my mind is will it fail catastrophically or not," he wrote in one of his emails to Rush.

The OceanGate CEO told his friend there would be more tests done on the sub but not as many as the 50 Stanley was suggesting as he suspected this was an 'arbitrary dive number'.

Towards the end of their conversation Stanley wrote another message to Rush.

He wrote: "I don't think if you push forward with dives to the Titantic this season it will be succumbing to financial pressures, I think it will be succumbing to pressures of your own creation in some part dictated by ego to do what people said couldn't be done."

LADbible has contacted OceanGate for comment.