OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush made haunting remarks insisting he would not die on the Titan sub 5 years before it imploded while diving to the Titanic wreckage

OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush told staff he would not die on his Titan submersible five years before his ill-fated journey to the Titanic, newly released transcripts reveal.

Rush was among the five people - including adventurer Hamish Harding, father and son Shahzada and Suleman Dawood and Frenchman Paul-Henri Nargeolet - who died when the submersible imploded in June 2023.

The U.S. Coast Guard released a redacted transcript between Rush and his former director of marine operations David Lochridge from January 19, 2018 as part of a high level investigation into the cause of the implosion.

The two men were discussing a quality inspect report on the sub's design when the exchange became heated and Rush defended the vessel's safety, reported BBC .

'I have no desire to die, and I'm not going to die. I'm not dying. No one is dying under my watch - period,' Rush said.

Lochridge was being interviewed by Rush over his issues with quality of the sub's hull , which was made of carbon fiber, and how the vessel was being constructed and tested.

'I am addressing what I view as safety concerns, concerns I have mentioned verbally... which have been dismissed by everybody,' Lochridge said.

The CEO insisted he had listened to the directors concerns and offered solutions.

'No, I have listen to them and I have given you my response to them and you think my response is inadequate,' he said.

'Everything I've done on this project is people telling me it won't work - you can't do that.'

Rush doubled down on insisting the Titan is safe and that he truly believes in the stability of submersible.

'I've got a nice granddaughter. I am going to be around. I understand this kind of risk, and I'm going into it with eyes open and I think this is one of the safest things I will ever do,' he said.

Lochridge was let go from OceanGate after that meeting for being what he described as 'anti-project.'

He said he then informed the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) about the Titan's safety problems.

After contacting them, Lochridge said he was then placed under the whistleblower protection scheme after they deemed his concerns serious.

'I didn't want anybody going in that submersible, it was dangerous,' Lochridge told the Coast Guard committee on September 17.

Lochridge said that after raising his concerns with OSHA, him and his wife were served a settlement and release agreement from OceanGate's lawyers.

'OceanGate wanted me to walk away from the OSHA claim. They basically demanded that I pay them money to settle with them because they had to hire an attorney to represent them in the matter with OSHA,' he said.

'They state that if I don't they'll contact previous employers, ex-spouses, US immigration, fraud, theft, everything is in this.'

He then decided to countersue OceanGate in federal court so as to allow information relating to his claims to be in the public domain as a matter of 'public safety'.

After months of back and forth he was told by OSHA that his case was in a backlog of 11 cases and it was unclear when they would investigate his claims.

Lochridge said this was hard for him and his family and in November of 2018 he decided to drop his claim and lawsuit against his former employer.