As if it wasn’t already in deep trouble, OceanGate Inc. was criticized this week for posting a job opening online. The company was behind the missing tourist submarine the Titan, which disappeared while visiting the wreckage of the Titanic. As the search was underway, the company posted a job opening for a new submersible pilot.
OceanGate has now deleted its job opening but screen shots are circulating online, and one has been published by TMZ. It promises a “career opportunity” for a “Submersible Pilot/Marine Technician” to “help manage and operate our fleet of manned submersibles and support vessels. We are looking for a committed and competent individual with [a] combination of strong mechanical and interpersonal skills who can work on sensitive marine equipment, perform regular maintenance and operate complex systems to support dive operations.”
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Many commenters were horrified by this posting, which was either posted shortly before or shortly after rescue teams determined that the Titan had imploded, meaning that the five people onboard were killed. The missing submarine dominated the news cycle last week as everyone learned more and more about the particulars of recreational deep-sea travel and the controversial safety approach of this particular company.
The Titan was carrying four passengers and OceanGate co-founder and CEO Stockton Rush, who had previously made many controversial comments about safety precautions. In 2019, Stockton told Smithsonian Magazine that a U.S. law “needlessly prioritized passenger safety over commercial innovation,” while in 2022 he told CBS News: “At some point, safety just is pure waste. I mean, if you just want to be safe, don’t get out of bed. Don’t get in your car. Don’t do anything.”
Meanwhile, many features of the submarine held national attention as viewers and readers learned about these kinds of tourist trips for the first time. In some cases, onlookers were horrified by rules and guidelines that OceanGate had actually broken, such as the prohibition on using carbon fiber in the construction of certain submersible parts. In other cases, practices that are actually fairly standard in deep sea travel caught casual observers by surprise, such as the use of a video game controller to steer the Titan.
Many people were also surprised by the relaxed requirements for testing, inspection, and oversight on a company like OceanGate, and these concerns surged to the forefront when the company made its job posting this week. Some also found it surprising that the company intended to continue operating at all. So far, the company has not commented publicly on its search for a new pilot.
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AT SEA – (—-EDITORIAL USE ONLY รข" MANDATORY CREDIT – " OCEANGATE/ HANDOUT" – NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS – DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS—-) An undated photo shows tourist submersible belongs to OceanGate begins to descent at a sea. Search and rescue operations continue by US Coast Guard in Boston after a tourist submarine bound for the Titanic's wreckage site went missing off the southeastern coast of Canada. (Photo by Ocean Gate / Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
