The deceased owner of the bathyscaphe “Titan” was accused of hunting for rich clients: “Predator”
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Oceangate CEO Stockton Rush was on a “predatory” mission to find wealthy clients who would approve of his submersible’s deep-sea voyages to the Titanic, industry leaders said.
As the Daily Mail recalls, Stockton Rush died on board the Titan on Sunday, June 18, along with his four passengers, when the submarine exploded on its way to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.
Insiders say the OceanGate boss had difficulty finding rich clients to make the operation profitable. He also used his powers of persuasion to stop respected figures in the research community from stealing clients for security reasons, the Times reported.
Patrick Lahey, president of Triton submarines, told the newspaper: “He could convince even someone who knew and understood the risks … It was really quite predatory.”
Leikhy has experience at all levels in the deep sea craft industry and was a close friend of Rush’s 73-year-old second mate Paul-Henri Narjolet, an experienced sailor and expert on the Titanic.
Lahey stated: “It’s terribly sad that Paul-Henri’s life ended this way, but he knew the risk. I explained to him very frankly why he shouldn’t be there. He understood. I think Paul-Henri somehow thought, that by being there, he could have helped these guys avoid a tragedy, but instead he was in the middle of one of them. I told Paul-Henri that going there somehow authorized this operation. I said: “You become the ambassador of this affairs; people look at you, your track record, the life you lead and what you’ve done, which is extraordinary, and in a way you legitimize what Oceangate does.”
Stockton Rush, an innovator in his style, has never sought certification or classification for his vessel, writes the Daily Mail. He insisted that regulators could not keep up with his technology.
Its combination of a carbon fiber barrel body with titanium end caps was seen as a dangerous design flaw by industry experts, and this was suggested as the probable cause of the titanium explosion.
Patrick Lahey, who has worked in the field for 43 years, added: “At the same time that this monster was being created, I was building the most powerful submarines of our time.”
A father and son who turned down their two tickets to the doomed Titan submersible say the CEO of OceanGate flew in an “experimental” plane to convince them to buy tickets.
Financier Jay Bloom refused tickets to board the submersible for himself and his son Sean, fearing they would not survive the trip on the Titan.
Speaking to NewsNation, Bloom said the concerns arose after OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, who coordinated the flight, flew to Las Vegas to convince him to board the “experimental plane.”
Bloom told the news channel: “It was very disturbing. The main wake-up call for my son was that Stockton came to visit me in Las Vegas in March. He said he flew in a two-seat experimental plane he built to take me to experimental submarine he built to take me to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.”
Bloom continued: “It’s a bit surreal. Every time I see photos of people who died in this tragic event. I look at a photo of a father and son and think how easily, if not for the grace of God, this could have become our photo in the news. When Stockton first approached me with this idea, it sounded very sexy, very exciting, like a wish list. My son is a big Titanic fan, so I thought it would be great for us to do something – together. The attraction of this offer is so compelling. My son spoke to his friend and they raised concerns about the ship, the marine life, some of the materials that were used in the construction.”
According to the Daily Mail, the US Coast Guard is currently investigating the cause of the explosion of the Titan submersible and does not exclude the discovery of human remains, and also hints that the investigation may lead to criminal charges.
Capt. Jason Neubauer, who is leading the US Coast Guard’s investigation into the sinking, made comments as search and rescue efforts came to an end.
British adventurer Hamish Harding, Shahzad’s father and son, and Suleman Davud died aboard the submersible, along with the American chief executive of the company responsible for the ship, Stockton Rush, and French citizen Paul-Henri Narjolet.
Rescue efforts are ongoing and investigators have mapped the crash site, Captain Neubauer said at a press conference in Boston. He also said that the convening of the Maritime Commission of Inquiry is the highest level investigation conducted by the US Coast Guard. It’s unclear how long this will take. The US Coast Guard says it does not charge search and rescue fees.
On Friday, the Coast Guard launched what it calls a Marine Board investigation and is working with the FBI to recover the evidence, Neubauer said. This includes salvaging the wreckage on the sea floor about 1,600 feet (488 meters) from the bow of the wreck of the Titanic, about 2-1/2 miles (4 km) below the surface. The findings will be brought to the attention of the International Maritime Organization and other groups “to help improve the safety of underwater operations around the world,” Neubauer said. He noted that the Coast Guard is in contact with the families of the five victims and that investigators “are taking all precautions in place if we want to find any human remains.”
Rear Admiral John Mauger of the First Coast Guard District confirmed that the Coast Guard had launched a Maritime Commission of Inquiry (MBI) into “the death of the submersible and five people on board.”
He added: “MBI is also responsible for the accountability aspects of the incident and can make recommendations to the relevant authorities for civil or criminal sanctions as needed.”
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