OceanGate and the Limits of Supply Base Innovation
Update: 2025-11-13
Description
On June 18, 2023, the OceanGate TITAN, a submersible on its way to the Titanic wreck site, imploded, killing all five passengers, including OceanGate CEO, Stockton Rush.
There were a number of factors leading to this tragic event, including a horrible disregard of basic safety measures, a deliberate effort to work outside of regulatory and inspection protocols, and a toxic company culture.
While many of these issues were internal, OceanGate did not make the TITAN or its predecessors in-house. This means that they had suppliers, and those companies had a front row seat to what was unfolding.
In this episode of the Art of Supply podcast, Kelly Barner covers the OceanGate operation from a supply chain point of view:
- OceanGate's evolutionary journey – first to buy and retrofit their submersibles and then to build them
- The different suppliers that played a role in manufacturing the TITAN, and signs that the company was looking for alternatives
- The challenge presented by innovation that seems to defy convention. When is an idea truly groundbreaking, and when is it just reckless?
Links:
- Marine Board's Report Into the Implosion of the Submersible TITAN in the North Atlantic Ocean Near the Wreck Site of the RMS TITANIC Resulting in the Loss of Five Lives on June 18, 2023
- Kelly Barner on LinkedIn
- Art of Supply LinkedIn newsletter
- Art of Supply on AOP
- Subscribe to This Week in Procurement
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