Co-founder of company that owned Titan says the goal was to create fleet of deep-diving submersibles

The co founder of the company that owned the experimental submersible that imploded en route to the wreckage of the Titanic described lofty goals when...

The co-founder of the company that owned the experimental submersible that imploded en route to the wreckage of the Titanic described lofty goals when the company was created, telling the U.S. Coast Guard on Monday that the company wanted to create multiple deep-water submersibles that could be deployed around the world.

Businessman Guillermo Sohnlein, who helped found OceanGate with Stockton Rush, said the original vision was to create a fleet of four or five deep-diving submersibles capable of carrying five people to 6,000 meters (6,500 yards) deep. The plan for the company was to have no dedicated mothership.

"We wanted to give humanity greater access to the ocean, specifically the deep ocean,” Sohnlein said.

Sohnlein ultimately left the company before the Titan disaster in June 2023. Rush was among the five people who died when the submersible imploded.

Though Sohnlein left the Washington company years ago, he spoke in defense of its efforts in the aftermath of the submersible’s implosion.