OceanGate, a science-tourism company founded by Stockton Rush, has been a unique and exciting adventure for five adventurous individuals. The company’s founder and CEO, Stockton Rush, wanted to be recognized as a rule-breaker and innovator.
After attending a 2012 Titanic display in Singapore, Shahzada Dawood, his wife Christine, and their son, Suleman, became captivated with the historic ship. In 2019, OceanGate advertised Titanic tours to Christine, who got excited.
OceanGate’s CEO Stockton Rush met with Christine Dawood at a Waterloo station café to discuss the submersible’s safety and design. They discussed the submersible’s engineering side, which they had no idea about. British airline executive Hamish Harding was excited about his first dive, but the listed price was $250,000, which was negotiable.
Last July, Colorado planetary scientist Alan Stern requested a Titan dive. After learning of Mr. Stern’s background as a jet pilot, arctic explorer, and commander of NASA’s New Horizon survey of Pluto and the Kuiper belt, Mr. Rush offered a complimentary ticket. Stern agreed, and the company trained him at St. John’s.
Mr. Nargeolet, known as P.H., was a semi-permanent fixture, a star and co-pilot on OceanGate missions, and a Titanic aristocracy. He intended to see the Titanic display opening in Paris on July 18. In his 2022 book, “Dans les Profondeurs du Titanic,” he stated that all his existence revolves around it.
OceanGate has been planning eight- or nine-day voyages in late spring and early summer: two days to the Titanic site, five days over it, and two days return. Depending on demand, technical challenges, and weather, each trip may feature numerous dives, but only one for each customer. Mission V was the last this year, after inclement weather prevented the first four from reaching the Titanic.
Dubai-based Action Aviation, led by Harding, sent him to orbit. He provided four photos, including one of the submersible and one of a little white flag on which expedition participants inscribed their names in black marker. Harding described weather issues but said the party would descend approximately 4 the next morning.
OceanGate’s commercial film shows the company’s balance, emphasizing the excitement of diving in a pocket submarine and the potential risks associated with its experimental method. However, some experts have expressed concerns about the company’s safety and the potential for catastrophic results. In 2021, retired California travel business owner Bill Price didve into Titan, a ship that experienced a one-sided propulsion system failure during descent. He claimed to have canceled the trip due to skeptics questioning the Titan’s form, big viewport, and material strength. Mr. Rush explained that the ballast system was loaded from the top with no stopper, so they would drop off if they rocked the submersible.
Everyone queued up and ran to one side, then the other, back and forth, to tip the Titan and release the ballast, like rocking a vending machine to liberate a candy bar caught on a spindle. After several rolls, everyone heard a clang and knew one had dropped off. They did it until the weights were gone.
Titan dived the next day with Mr. Price, witnessing the Titanic and having sparkling cider on the surface. They witnessed the Titanic and had sparkling cider on the surface. OceanGate claimed that Titan would take two and a half hours to plummet to the Titanic and two and a half hours to climb back to the surface. Touring the wreckage would take four hours. Most tours ended without seeing the Titanic, and more Titan missions failed than succeeded.
Despite complications, Mr. Rush’s good-natured honesty reassured passengers. He held a debriefing after a test dive was canceled due to a faulty computer connection. Planetary scientist and aeronautics specialist, Mr. Stern, said he hadn’t heard about some of the issues raised after the tragedy, such as the submersible experts’ letter. The expedition protocols impressed him, and he returned safely.
On June 14, the Dawoods travelled to Toronto, worried they might miss the Titanic tour. They landed late at night and headed directly aboard the Polar Prince, a 1959 Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker and buoy tender operated by OceanGate this year. It housed and transported roughly two dozen OceanGate divers and personnel and a rotating clientele. It towed a 20-foot-square floating platform with the 20,000-pound Titan submersible this spring.
Daily all-hands sessions lasted one hour, with Mr. Rush termed “stopskis” five-minute breaks to allow people think and voice concerns. The objective was to keep paying customers—explorers, adventurers, and citizen scientists—active. Mission Specialists learn submersible navigation, piloting, tracking, communications, and maintenance and operations.
