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

Footage from a remotely operated vehicle shows, what the Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation says is the debris of the Titan submersible that imploded while diving to the wreck of the Titanic, on the seafloor, Sept 17, 2024, in this still image from video. — US Coast Guard video courtesy of Pelagic Research Services/Handout via Reuters

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 US Coast Guard on Sept 23 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 deep. The plan for the company was to have no dedicated mothership.