OceanGate announced that it has suspended all “exploration” and “commercial operations” after the Titan submersible exploded, resulting in the deaths of OceanGate’s CEO as well as four other people who were visiting the Titanic wreckage.
According to the Everett Herald, the website of the company announced that “OceanGate had suspended all commercial and exploration operations.”
Five people, including OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, were killed when the Titan submersible, located in Everett (Washington), exploded during an attempt by the company to reach the Titanic wreckage, which is approximately 12,500 feet under the sea surface.
Other victims of the Titan included a Pakistani businessman, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood (19 years old), a British explorer, Hamish Harding as well as a French diver, Paul-Henri Nargeolet.
The U.S. Coast Guard reported that OceanGate’s submersible had lost contact with the research vessel after diving to the Titanic site for about an hour and 45 minutes.
This incident led to a multinational rescue operation, because many people believed that there was a chance the Titan would be lost, with five men trapped within, and only 96 hours left until they ran out of air.
The Wall Street Journal reported a few days later that the U.S. Navy’s top-secret acoustic detector system could have detected the Titan implosion at the same time as the submersible lost contact with the surface, on June 18.
U.S. Defense officials told The Journal that the sound was heard near the site where debris from the Titan was found. It was immediately reported to the commander leading the search.
The U.S. Coast Guard confirmed on June 22 that the debris from the Titan submersible had been found. It was “consistent” with the catastrophic implosion.
Some Rush fans took to social media after the Titan’s implosion to express their concern about its safety.
Discovery Plus’ Expedition Unknown’s Josh Gates revealed he considered including the Titanic wreckage in his docuseries but decided against it after testing OceanGate Titan submersible.
Jay Bloom, a financier, said that Rush offered him and son $250,000 tickets at a “last-minute” price of $150,000. This was just a few weeks before the dive. Bloom claimed he decided to not go to the dive after Rush flew him to Las Vegas on “a two-seat experimental plane that was built by him” in an attempt to convince.
OceanGate’s now-deceased CEO was also called on for saying “anyone can drive the submarine” using a cheap game controller. Rush once claimed that he did not hire “50-year old white guys” who had military experience as captains of his vessels, because they were “inspirational.”
