MOSCOW, June 22. /TASS/. The Titan bathyscaphe, which has disappeared in the Atlantic Ocean, might have been built with disregard for certain standards, oceanologist Anatoly Sagalevich, one of the creators of the Mir deep manned submersibles and holder of the Hero of Russia title, has told TASS.

On June 19, OceanGate Expeditions announced that it had lost communication with the vessel taking tourists to the site of the Titanic wreckage.

According to Sky News, the submersible’s passengers are OceanGate Expeditions President and Founder Stockton Rush, French expert on the Titanic Paul-Henri Nargeolet, and British billionaire Hamish Harding, owner of Action Aviation. The two other passengers are Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his son Sulaiman Dawood, 19.

"This apparatus was built <...> without, as far as I understand, observing the standards that must be met. The apparatus was not certified by any register or official body which gives permission to use this apparatus and confirms its safety," Sagalevich said, when asked about the technical characteristics of the missing bathyscaphe. He noted that there were certain rules for creating vehicles of this class and certain rules for their operation.

"Judging by what they write and what my friends have been telling me, the machine’s design is faulty. Faulty means a variety of things - engineering and workmanship, the availability of warning systems and so on. What happened can be blamed only on technical flaws," said the expert.

Responding to a question about the risks involved in diving to the wreckage of the Titanic, Sagalevich recalled that he himself had dived there 57 times.

"And as you can see, I'm still alive. The pilot of this apparatus, French aquanaut Paul-Henri Nargeolet, is a friend of mine. We've known each other for 35 years. He's an absolutely competent pilot. I cannot imagine he made any mistakes in piloting," Sagalevich said.

A Sagalevich-led team of divers filmed the underwater scenes for James Cameron’s feature film Titanic (1997) as well as for a number of other films made by the director.