Titan was 'abomination of a sub,' testifies former OceanGate employee in damning statement

At a hearing on Tuesday, former OceanGate employee David Lochridge delivered a damning critique of the Titan submersible , referring to it as an "abomination of a sub" and casting doubts over its structural integrity .

On the hearing's second day, which was convened by the US Coast Guard in South Carolina, Lochridge presented a report documenting the condition of the sub's hull following a thorough inspection .

It read: "For me, this was my opportunity, being asked to do it prior to the sub being handed over, an abomination of a sub, this was my opportunity to raise everything that I had seen during the build and the final build of Titan."

• Missing Titanic sub: What was it like inside the Titan submersible?
• Titan submersible CEO made chilling 'what could go wrong' joke weeks before disaster

He detailed how certain elements including the viewport and dome ceilings deviated from standard design practices.

Lochridge then remarked he was "appalled" by the poor quality O-ring seal atop the sub. "There was so many laminations, so many voids. The imperfections were incredible. There was glue runs everywhere. And that's a red flag."

The ex-operations director aired his myriad concerns regarding the submersible's flawed design. He recalled how the hull, which had sustained damage from a lightning strike some years before the 2023 expedition, resembled "porous paper. It was disgusting," as he informed the panel, reports the Mirror US .

Moreover, Lochridge criticized the sub's second hull, revealing the company's approach of cobbling together old parts to create new, but cheap and unreliable subs. He implied the vessel was essentially a fragile conglomeration of reused components.

"Everything was reused," he stated. "They reused these domes. They reused these ceiling faces. They reused the acrylic. They reused the interior. Everything was reused. It's all cost."

Lochridge is set to be a key witness in front of a commission investigating the cause behind the Titan's catastrophic failure while en route to the Titanic's remains last year, which resulted in the death of all five passengers. His statements on Monday resonated with those of other ex-employees; one described OceanGate's CEO Stockton Rush as unpredictable and challenging to work with.

"The whole idea behind the company was to make money," Lochridge claimed. "There was very little in the way of science."

Notably, Rush was among the casualties of the Titan's implosion. OceanGate, the owner of the Titan, had conducted several expeditions to the Titanic site since 2021.

His evidence comes following testimonies from others who depicted a company eager to launch its uniquely designed vessel, sparking a global controversy over the ethics and future of private deep-sea ventures.

For the latest local news and features on Irish America, visit our homepage here .