Page 10: of Marine Technology Magazine (July 2023)

OPINION OCEANGATE TRAGEDY

A MESSAGE FROM THE MARINE

TECHNOLOGY SOCIETY (MTS) e are deeply saddened at the loss of the crew Titanic. of the submersible Titan. Our underwater Today, one of our many professional committees is the Sub- community is close-knit and deeply con- marine Committee, formerly named the Manned Underwater

W nected; many of us worked with and knew Vehicles (MUV) Committee. This committee has a long his- those onboard. We appreciate and extend our gratitude for the tory of organizing the leaders in this ? eld at a technical con- efforts of the hundreds of volunteers and professionals who vening alongside the Underwater Intervention conference. As worked tirelessly on the complex and dif? cult search. That with all our committees, sections, and events, we depend upon numerous agencies and commercial partners, from multiple volunteer members to share their expertise and address chal- nations, rapidly responded and deployed cutting-edge tech- lenges and opportunities relevant to their speci? c discipline. nologies is a testament to the strength and cohesion of the MTS recognizes the global expertise and experience of the maritime sector – and emblematic of the Mariner’s Code that Submarine Committee and commends its annual conference connects all seafarers. Along with the entire marine technol- as an example of valuable service to the marine technology ogy community, MTS offers our sincere condolences and community.

sympathies to the families and friends of the Titan’s crew. In 2018, this group of volunteer members collaborated to

MTS was established in 1963, and our member community draft a cohesive, and directed, message to OceanGate on best has a long history and broad experience in the technology practices for the safe development and operation of new sub- and business of submersibles. In 1960, Captain Don Walsh, mersible technologies. The content of this draft letter has been

USN (Ret), was aboard the ? rst submersible to reach the widely shared by the media in recent days. The Submarine deepest known point in the ocean – the Challenger Deep. Dr. Committee never signed or sent this draft letter to OceanGate

Edie Widder, Victor Vescovo, Patrick Lehey, and Dr. Mandy and the draft letter was not approved or issued as a formal

Joye—all winners of the annual MTS and Society for Under- statement on behalf of MTS or the committee. The letter draft water Technology (SUT) Captain Don Walsh Award for Ocean was shared, though, with OceanGate by a committee member

Exploration—have made hundreds of submersible dives be- during the drafting process. OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush tween them, including to the deepest points in each ocean ba- and the Submarine Committee chair engaged in discussions sin. Also, one of our founding members, Dr. Allyn Vine, led and agreed to disagree on the technical topics of the letter. the development of crewed submersibles and was the driving Recent media coverage has highlighted OceanGate’s views on force behind the creation of the DSV ALVIN, which has com- these technical topics, as expressed in a 2019 company blog pleted 5,000+ safe dives, including to the wreck of the RMS post. This history is shared here with no opinion on the un- 10 July/August 2023

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