'Experimental with no oversight:' Experts had concerns about OceanGate sub for years

The small submersible missing in the depths of the North Atlantic Ocean has not been subject to industry-standard tests and scrutiny, according to two subsea engineers who flagged concerns about the vessel in 2018.

The small submersible missing in the depths of the North Atlantic Ocean has not been subject to industry-standard tests and scrutiny, according to two subsea engineers who flagged concerns about the vessel in 2018.

Bart Kemper, principal engineer with Kemper Engineering Services in Louisiana, described the development of OceanGate's Titan submersible as "experimental with no oversight." That approach is not at all representative of typical industry practice, Kemper said in an interview Tuesday.

He said the Titan's disappearance Sunday as it descended toward the wreck of the Titanic is "horrible."

"These are literally the things that keep us up at night because we don't want to be responsible for one of these stories. We take this seriously," Kemper said of his subsea engineering colleagues. "It's heartbreaking."

Crews from the United States and Canada raced to find the Titan and the five people inside it Wednesday, as its oxygen reserves depleted. The 6.7-metre-long submersible lost contact with its mother ship on Sunday, about an hour and 45 minutes after it began its voyage to the Titanic shipwreck about 700 kilometres off the southeast coast of Newfoundland.

William Kohnen, president and CEO of the California-based engineering firm Hydrospace Group, was hesitant to comment on the situation in an interview Tuesday night, as the search has not yet concluded. But he said it's difficult to know what went wrong because the Titan isn't classed.

When a craft undergoes classification, a recognized third-party agency reviews its design and construction to ensure it has been tested properly and that it's safe, Kohnen said. Engineers, he explained, know how a submersible should be designed and equipped to be safe. But since the Titan isn't classed, "we do not know what system the vehicle has or does not have," he said.