Entrepreneur Guillermo Söhnlein, co-founder of OceanGate, came out to respond to criticism for the alleged safety problems that the Titan submersible had.
"The intent of all these missions is not to take pleasure trips to this wreck. All who go down there have extreme reverence for the wreck as a burial place. And in any case, all those who go down there do so to preserve memories and document the tomb itself," said the businessman.
Speaking to Britain's BBC Radio 4, he said those commenting on matters relating to the safety conditions of the stricken Titan submersible are not "fully informed".
"People keep equating certification with safety and ignore 14 years of development on the Titan submersible," he lamented.
Söhnlein also argued that the regulations on this type of submersible are very poor.
"There are regulations in place, but as you can imagine, not many submarines go that deep. So the regulations are quite sparse and many of them are outdated or designed for specific cases. So it's a bit tricky to navigate those regulatory schemes."
Finally, he compared what happened with the Titan, with the world of space exploration.
"One of the risks that the community runs every time it operates is that if there is some kind of catastrophic failure, the general public will react against the entire community and basically say it shouldn't happen. But just like with space exploration, the best way to preserve the memories and legacy of these five explorers is to conduct an investigation to find out what went wrong. Take the lessons learned and then move on," Söhnlein said.
