Titan submersible: Messages, emails going viral show OceanGate CEO ignored voyage’s safety issues

A Las Vegas investor and real estate developer, Jay Bloom, has revealed that he and his son were first offered seats to travel on the Titan submersible that imploded in the Atlantic Ocean during a voyage to the century-old wreck of the Titanic.

Bloom refused to take up on the offer after he raised some serious security lapses. Revealing this in a Facebook post, Bloom attached screenshots of his conversation with Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate, which built the Titan.

Those two seats were later filled by Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son, Suleman, who perished with three others, including Rush himself.

“In February Stockton asked me and my son, Sean, to go with him on the dive to Titanic in May. Both May dives were postponed due to weather and the dive got delayed until June 18th, the date of this trip,” Jay wrote.

Jay said that Stockton had assured them that there were no safety risks, but he wasn’t convinced.

“I expressed safety concerns and Stockton told me ‘While there's obviously risk it's way safer than flying in a helicopter or even scuba diving. There hasn't been even an injury in 35 years in a non-military subs’.”

“I am sure he really believed what he was saying. But he was very wrong. He passionately believed in what he was doing. The last time I saw Stockton in person was March 1st. He took me through the Titanic Exhibit at Luxor. Then, at lunch in the Luxor food court we talked about the dive, including safety. He was absolutely convinced that it was safer than crossing the street. He gave me a book of photos (1 of 324 produced) signed by him and Paul Henri Nargeolet, two of the five onboard the sub,” Jay said.

Safety issues

Notably, Jay wasn’t the only one who saw the potential risks of travelling in the submersible.

The email exchanges between deep-sea exploration expert Rob McCallum and Stockton Rush have gone viral on social media, showing that OceanGate CEO had dismissed safety concerns raised by the former.

McCallum had even urged Stockton to get a safety certificate for the submersible before venturing into the ill-fated deep sea exploration.

"You are wanting to use a prototype un-classed technology in a very hostile place,” he had told Stockton.

"As much as I appreciate entrepreneurship and innovation, you are potentially putting an entire industry at risk.”

In reply, Stockton said that his "engineering focused, innovative approach flies in the face of the submersible orthodoxy —but that is the nature of innovation".

Stockton then continued to defend saying, “We have heard the baseless cries of 'you are going to kill someone' way too often. I take this as a serious personal insult.”

Rob then wrote, "I think you are potentially placing yourself and your clients in a dangerous dynamic. In your race to Titanic you are mirroring that famous catch cry: 'She is unsinkable.'”

All the passengers in the submersible were declared dead. The officials noted that they were killed in a catastrophic implosion – an underwater implosion that led to the vessel suddenly collapsing.

The five deceased passengers were OceanGate Expeditions CEO Stockton Rush, British billionaire Hamish Harding, French diver Paul Henry Nargeolet, and Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son, Suleman.

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