Liability waivers signed by passengers on a submersible lost at sea during a dive to the Titanic wreck may not shield the vessel’s owner from potential lawsuits by the victims’ families, legal experts said.
The Titan submersible vanished on Sunday (Jun 22) roughly two hours into its dive and was found in pieces on the ocean floor after what the US Coast Guard said on Thursday was a “catastrophic implosion” of its pressure chamber.
The passengers, who paid as much as US$250,000 each for the journey to 3,810m below the surface, are believed to have signed liability waivers. A CBS reporter who made the trip with OceanGate Expeditions in July 2022 reported that the waiver he signed mentioned the possibility of death three times on the first page alone.
Reuters could not independently confirm the terms of OceanGate’s waivers.
OceanGate did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Thursday.
Waivers are not always ironclad, and it is not uncommon for judges to reject them if there is evidence of gross negligence or hazards that were not fully disclosed.
“If there were aspects of the design or construction of this vessel that were kept from the passengers or it was knowingly operated despite information that it was not suitable for this dive, that would absolutely go against the validity of the waiver,” said personal injury attorney and maritime law expert Matthew D Shaffer, who is based in Texas.
OceanGate could argue it was not grossly negligent and that the waivers apply because they fully described the dangers inherent in plumbing the deepest reaches of the ocean in a submersible the size of a minivan.
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