SAN DIEGO — Long before the OceanGate tragedy, safety concerns had been raised about its underwater vessel.
OceanGate had made several successful dives in the past, yet former passengers, as well as employees questioned how it was built, and its lack of performance testing.
"No. It was not safe," said Arthur Loibl, a 61-year-old retired businessman and adventurer from Germany.
In 2019, he paid $110,000 to explore the Titanic with OceanGate. But, that journey fell through after the company's first submersible didn't survive testing.
Then, two years later he went on a voyage that was successful, though he recalled conditions that weren't ideal.
"We are sitting on the bottom. There's no seat. You cannot stand. You cannot kneel or stay on your knees," said Loibl.
Two previous employees raised safety concerns when the ship was built. One lawsuit says the company did not perform adequate testing on the Titan's hull.
And the head of the Marine Technology Submarine Committee says the Titan never went through independent testing.
The ship was also never certified by an industry group, which is not required in international waters, but is industry standard.
Not only that but it was built using two different materials, something that had never been done.
CBS 8 asked Research Oceanographer Emeritus at Scripps Oceanography, Jules Jaffe, to weigh in on those concerns.
“I don't want to say it was a shoddy submarine. What I want to say is that they miscalculated the repeated use would fatigue it to the point where it would compromise the tremendous forces that it was subject to,” said Jaffe.
Jaffe says it's likely OceanGate didn't perform certain maintenance tests in between dives, perhaps as a cost-saving measure.
“There is a profit motive here and I have no idea what their expenses are, but every company that makes or create services always tries to optimize their profit. For sure, this was a big mistake and I emphasize with them,” said Jaffe.
As for the video game controller and other improvisions used to operate the Titan, Jaffe says that's not a surprise to those in the industry.
"When you walk into your house and turn your light switch on, how complicated is that? We use various types of computer faces to talk to the instruments that we build and the simpler the better."
Jaffe says it’s too soon to say exactly what went wrong. He hopes the wreckage will provide answers to questions being raised.
More than anything, he doesn't want this tragedy to stop people from exploring the deep ocean.
“I believe the tourist industry and deep sea exploration benefits us all.” he said.
WATCH RELATED: US Coast Guard ROV discovered tail cone, debris of missing sub near Titanic on sea floor (June 2023).