Families of ‘Titan’ Sub Victims Could Still Sue OceanGate Despite Waivers, Legal Expert Says

The families of the five passengers who died in the ‘Titan’ submersible implosion could still sue OceanGate despite the waivers they signed beforehand, according to a legal expert.

On Thursday, days after a Titanic-bound submersible disappeared on Sunday, OceanGate announced the deaths of the Titan’s five passengers. Now, as safety concerns about the vessel as well as questions about potential legal action are raised, much has been made about the waivers passengers signed before boarding.

According to CBS journalist David Pogue — who spoke with PEOPLE one day before the debris from the vessel was discovered — he was required to sign a waiver before his dive on the Titan last summer, which he said was “quite clear about all the ways that you could be permanently disabled, emotionally traumatized or killed.”

“The waiver says ‘This vessel has not been inspected or certified by any government body,’ Pogue claimed. “So you know very well that it is a one of a kind vessel.”

On Friday, TMZ reported that a copy of the waiver used last summer allegedly required passengers to “assume full responsibility for all risks of property damage, injury, disability, and death.”

OceanGate did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

However, trial lawyer and former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani told PEOPLE on Thursday that a waiver doesn’t protect OceanGate from all types of legal action in light of the passengers’ deaths.

“You can only waive a simple negligence,” Rahmani said. “By law, you can’t waive gross negligence. So this is above and beyond, you know. So, whatever waiver they signed … You can waive known risks, but you can’t waive something more than that, which again, I’m certainly no expert in these types of vessels, but this seems like something more than simple negligence.”

Rahmani said he believed a civil lawsuit is “100 percent certain.”

“The civil lawsuit is pretty much absolute certainty,” he added, going on to note that criminal liability is a “bigger question” — but that given the profile of the passengers he “wouldn’t be surprised if there was a criminal prosecution of people who were responsible for this.”

On Thursday, the United States Coast Guard announced during a press conference that debris found near the Titanic was of the Titan. An ROV discovered the debris located 1,600 feet from the bow of the tailbone of the Titanic wreckage, “consistent with a catastrophic implosion of the vessel,” per the U.S. Coast Guard. In a statement later obtained by PEOPLE, OceanGate announced that all five passengers “have sadly been lost.”

“This is an extremely sad time for our dedicated employees who are exhausted and grieving deeply over this loss,” the statement read.

The passengers on the vessel were OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, his son Suleman Dawood, Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet and British billionaire Hamish Harding.

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