Suing OceanGate for the Titan disaster could be difficult for the victims' families, but not impossible.
While the search for the five passengers of the missing OceanGate sub continues, experts are weighing in on who can ultimately be held responsible when such a high-risk expedition goes wrong—and whether the passengers' families would eventually be able to sue the company.
But despite being encouraged by hearing banging sounds from the depth of the Atlantic Ocean, rescuers still struggled to locate the vessel. While the assumption would be that OceanGate will be held responsible for whatever happened to the five passengers—including the company's CEO, who was serving as the vessel's pilot—the legal technicalities around Titan complicates the situation.
It does not require"to be registered in a country and therefore follow specific laws that are governed by international conventions, such as the Safety of Life at Sea , which was promulgated as a result of the Titanic sinking," he toldThe Titan, seen above, is a carbon fiber and titanium submersible. All passengers are asked to sign a waiver before boarding the submersible that mentions the risk of death.
"When OceanGate was founded the goal was to pursue the highest reasonable level of innovation in the design and operation of manned submersibles," the company says on its website."By definition, innovation is outside of an already accepted system. However, this does not mean that OceanGate does meet standards where they apply, but it does mean that innovation often falls outside of the existing industry paradigm.
that the only way families could sue OceanGate is if it was proven that the incident had been the result of the negligence of a crew member.
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