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RNZ News
10-07-2025
- General
- RNZ News
The Kiwi who tried to stop the OceanGate Titan disaster
OceanGate's Titan submersible was en route to the wreck of the Titanic when it imploded killing five people on board. Photo: AFP / OceanGate Expeditions The New Zealander who warned about the Titan OceanGate disaster where five people died aboard a submersible en route to the wreck of the Titanic in 2023 says it was something he had long predicted. On 18 June 2023, five people died aboard a submersible which was en route to the wreck of the Titanic - 3800 metres beneath the waves in the North Atlantic Ocean. The Titan submersible, operated by the American tourism company OceanGate, imploded 90 minutes into the journey - killing all passengers. New Zealander Rob McCallum, who himself runs expeditions to remote places through his company EYOS Expeditions. Five years prior to the disaster, McCallum raised concerns with OceanGate about the risks of the vessel's carbon fibre and titanium construction. In March 2018, he emailed OceanGate founder Stockton Rush to warn him about the dangers of their submersible and that he was risking lives. Stockton Rush died in the implosion along with four others. McCallum has a company that has run about 1800 expeditions across all oceans and all continents. "I personally specialise in surface expeditions, that is expeditions from the surface all the way down to 11,000 metres." The Titanic site is very exposed and not sheltered by any land because it is in the North Atlantic and is about 350 miles (563km) offshore, he said. McCallum said he felt sick when he first heard that something had gone wrong with the Titan submersible, but it was something they had long predicted. "As soon as I heard that the sub had gone I knew straight away what had happened, you know I had a call on the day of the implosion to say it imploded and you know the next three days about the media reports about the oxygen count-down were a bit of a mystery to me - but in a way I'm glad that the end was an implosion and not an oxygen starvation scenario." The Titan submersible was made of carbon fibre which is a composite material and was never usually used in manufacturing submersibles, he said. "All of the subs we use are made of steel or titanium and the reason for that is that metals are a consistent material and because they're consistent it means that from an engineering perspective, you can with great accuracy calculate out stresses and pressures and failure points." It was not possible to do that with carbon fibre because it was a composite material, he said. McCallum said all the submersibles that his company used were classed or independently certified but "the OceanGate submersible Titan was an unclassed vehicle". McCallum said he first became involved with OceanGate which developed the Titan in 2009 when his company owned three submersibles. "When OceanGate started the two founding partners used to come down to see our work and to look at our subs and to ask us lots of questions about how you manage a submersible business, where you source staff, how you go about maintenance and that sort of thing." The Titan submersible was made of carbon fibre, which is a composite material. Photo: AFP / OceanGate Expeditions In about 2015, OceanGate's chief executive decided that he would like to go to the Titanic and build his own craft, he said. McCallum said they stopped having contact the following year. "By 2016 when he announced that he wasn't going to build a classed vehicle, it was going to be an experimental craft that had no sort of independent oversight, no third party sign-off - that's when we part ways." There are six main certifying or classing agencies throughout the world which get involved at the planning stage of building a submersible and are involved in making rigourous checks through the entire process including all the trials assessing the vehicle, he said. The Titan was one of only two unclassed submersibles in the world that were doing commercial service, he said. To get a vehicle classed or certified is expensive and costs about 25 to 30 percent of its total build cost, McCallum said. OceanGate could not decide to get the vehicle classed when it was part way through building it, instead to get it classed they would have had to start again and get the assessors involved right from the outset which would have financially crippled the company, he said. McCallum believed Stockton's character also meant he was not able to admit that he was wrong. The company designed the process to work around the legislation, he said. The sub was built in the United States but the company was registered in the Bahamas where the sub was mainly tested, he said. "There seems to have been a miscommunication between the US and the Bahamas about who was keeping an eye on this vehicle." The Titan submersible being towed to a dive location in Everett, Washington. Photo: AFP / OceanGate Expeditions OceanGate had the ridiculous idea that it would assess the hull to ensure it could deal with the depths it was being taken to by using a series of censors around the vehicle to listen to the noises the hull made under pressure, he said. "When they got to a certain point the idea was to relieve the pressure by ascending again. "It's as ridiculous as it sounds, quite frankly if you're listening to the sounds of your hull degrading, you're standing way too close to the edge, I mean this is not the right vehicle to be in this place." McCallum said he sent a series of emails to Stockton Rush in 2017 and 2018 in which he tried to maintain a "professional coolness" on the basis he did not want to cut off communication since as long as they were talking there was a chance that Stockton would listen and change tact. "The letters are polite but they become increasingly more pointed as I sort of lay out all the things that are going wrong and why he's on the wrong path." But "every offer of support was firmly rejected", probably because Stockton was on a path that he could not get off, McCallum said. McCallum said Stockton Rush should take the lion's share of the blame for the disaster as the company's chief executive and the founder and funder of the company, but there were others who enabled him to act the way he did who should be held to account. "By enabled I mean the engineers who are prepared to sign off on something they're not comfortable with, or in a position where you know what their skill set, their experience, their qualifications shouldn't be signing off stuff anyway." A board of directors also seemed to be absent and no one seemed to have the power to say stop, he said. McCallum said there were many ticking clocks prior to the disaster. The first was the decision to build a submersible from carbon fibre using end caps that were made of titanium, he said. "You've got a material that is not suitable for this purpose being mated to two other components that are of a different material." Also, every test model that they made failed and before they predicted it would, he said. "Their operational model failed in a way they weren't expecting." In the final model there was a loud cracking sound which occurred on its 80th dive, about a year before the implosion, he said. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
09-07-2025
- RNZ News
The Kiwi who tried to stop the Titan OceanGate disaster
On 18 June 2023, five people died aboard a submersible which was en route to the wreck of the Titanic - 3,800 metres beneath the waves in the North Atlantic Ocean. The Titan submersible, operated by the American tourism company OceanGate, imploded 90 minutes into the journey - killing all passengers. Our next guest is New Zealander Rob McCallum, who himself runs expeditions to remote places through his company EYOS Expeditions. Five years prior to the disaster, Rob raised concerns with OceanGate about the risks of the vessel's carbon fibre and titanium construction. In March 2018, he emailed OceanGate founder Stockton Rush to warn him about the dangers of their submersible and that he was risking lives. Stockton Rush died in the implosion along with four others. Rob McCallum speaks to Kathryn Ryan. To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
Forbes
10-06-2025
- Business
- Forbes
EYOS Expeditions Introduce Innovative Superyacht Circumnavigation Charter Program
How would you like to see the world from the top deck of this superyacht? You could if you ... More participate in the Solace Odyssey, an innovative new yacht charter program just announced by EYOS Expeditions One of the many things that make chartering a large yacht so special is the variety of bucket-list level experiences that are possible. For many, the ability to escape onboard a spacious, well-staffed yacht and visit historic ports and sun kissed islands in the Mediterranean and Caribbean defines the ultimate family getaway. For others, the ability to explore remote destinations and native cultures can be both restful and restorative. The Solace Odyssey is an innovative three year superyacht circumnavigation In fact, chartering a yacht can be like owning one except, up until recently, you couldn't really experience the true adventure and discovery of a circumnavigation on a charter yacht. But that's all about to change now that EYOS Expeditions just announced an innovate partnership with the recently refitted 187-foot-long Feadship Solace that's about to embark on a three-year circumnavigation. A rendering of the 187-foot-long Feadship Solace 'Many owners set off around the world, but few do so with such a well-defined vision for what they want to achieve during the voyage,' EYOS Expeditions co-founder Tim Soper explains. 'With Solace, the brief was to create extended family cruising legs of several months, full of variety and discovery, while also making the yacht available for charter in all the key regions along the route at the best possible times of the year. The interior aboard the 187-foot-long Feadship Solace 'The owner's goal is for clients who charter legs of the Solace Odyssey to enjoy the rewards of a global voyage without the huge commitment of doing so on their own. The foundation of this concept is to allow charterers the opportunity to return to a familiar yacht and crew while experiencing a series of the most rewarding yachting destinations around the world. We have suggested some key regions to charter, but we will also work with clients who want to become part of the odyssey to develop individual routes according to their interests.' Solace will visit numerous islands and cultures all around the world And the newly refitted Solace seems to be the ideal yacht for the trip. She was specifically built for a circumnavigation that lasted three years after she was launched in 2005. She can accommodate 12 guests in five suites, with two additional berths available for guides, instructors, or specialists. And a professional crew of 14 ensures high-touch service and continuity for returning clients. Solace will visit many of the worlds most remote locations including Antarctica Another cool thing about the Solace Odyssey is the way the owner has invited potential charter clients to share the voyage of discovery by curating their own odyssey. This type of trip may not be for everyone, but for those who dream of circumnavigating, the ability be part of the Solace Odyssey could provide a deeper/longer/more meaningful experience than a more conventional, one-off charter. 'It was an interesting challenge to develop a multi-year deployment that delivers both a private world cruising experience and compelling charter opportunities,' Soper continues. 'Solace will visit many of the world's most wonderful and off the beaten track cruising grounds at optimal times of year, including expedition destinations where we can deliver some unique experiences. The interior aboard Solace is warm and sophisticated As of now, charter availability is divided into six defined segments, each spanning approximately three months: • Winter 2025/26 UAE, Maldives • Summer 2026 Seychelles, Mozambique, Madagascar • Winter 2026/27 Raja Ampat, Palau, Yap, Philippines, Japan • Summer 2027 PNG, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji, Tonga, French Polynesia • Winter 2027/28 Antarctica, Patagonia • Summer 2028 Greenland, Baffin Island, Eastern Northwest Passage This sounds like a fantastic program put together by some of the most respected and experienced people who specialize in global exploration on private yachts I know. I only have two questions: 1. Why hasn't someone thought of this before? 2. When can I sign up?
