OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, who tragically lost his life in the Titan incident, had a deeper motivation behind his extreme tourism venture. According to an individual who almost booked a ticket on the ill-fated sub, Rush’s true passion was not building a tourism business to the Titanic, but rather researching and documenting the ship’s decay over time. Las Vegas financier Jay Bloom revealed in an exclusive interview with The Post that he decided against purchasing tickets due to safety concerns raised by his son, who was set to join him on the voyage. Bloom stated that Rush wanted to bring along observers to help finance his scientific observation of the ship, as multiple dives to the site come with significant costs.
On June 18, the tragic implosion of Titan claimed the lives of all five passengers onboard, including Rush, British billionaire Hamish Harding, French Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet, Pakistani billionaire Shahzada Dawood, and his son Sulaiman. Bloom later shared text messages between himself and Rush, expressing his son’s concerns about the trip’s dangers and perceived threats to the vessel. Bloom cited the absence of training and safety gear as red flags, noting that passengers were even prohibited from wearing shoes inside the sub.
Despite Rush’s claims that he wasn’t interested in catering to extreme tourists, OceanGate’s website promoted the journey to the Titanic as an enticing investment opportunity. The $250,000 ticket price included a submersible dive, private accommodations, training, expedition gear, and meals. The submersible had previously made successful voyages before its fatal trip. It was built using cost-effective methods, including the utilization of scaffolding poles as ballast and a Logitech videogame controller for steering.
Bloom revealed that Rush opted for affordable components due to his belief that the industry is overly engineered and that excessive money was being spent on safety. Rush allegedly dismissed safety concerns raised by manufacturers, considering them to be mere opinions rather than valid criticisms. An industry expert also claimed that Rush was actively seeking wealthy clients to support his expensive deep-sea sub trips, suggesting a predatory aspect to his business practices.
In their text conversations, Rush attempted to reassure Bloom by stating that Titan was safer than activities like helicopter flights or scuba diving. However, Bloom confessed that seeing photos of the deceased father and son left a haunting impression on him, realizing that a single decision could have placed him and his son in the same tragic position.
Denial of responsibility! VigourTimes is an automatic aggregator of Global media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, and all materials to their authors. For any complaint, please reach us at – [email protected]. We will take necessary action within 24 hours.
