OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, who died in the Titan tragedy, launched an extreme tourism enterprise just to fund his obsession with the Titanic, a one that almost booked a flight on a doomed submarine.
Las Vegas financier Jay Bloom told The Post in an exclusive interview on Thursday that he backed out of paying $500,000 for 2 tickets to board the Titan due to safety concerns raised by his son, whom he planned to tackle the trip.
“[Rush] he wasn’t really going to construct a tourism business on the Titanic,” Bloom said. “He wanted to study and document the ship’s decay over time.”
“Loads of on-site dives cost a number of money. The way in which to fund his scientific observations was to bring observers with him,” Bloom added.
Titan’s implosion on June 18 killed all five on board: Rush, 61, British billionaire Hamish Harding, 58, French Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77, in addition to Pakistani billionaire Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his 19-year-old son Suleiman.
Bloom shared text conversations between himself and Rush on Facebook since February, when he was considering buying two submarine seats for himself and his 20-year-old son Sean.
![OceanGate reportedly charged $250,000 per seat not because it was interested in tourism, but because its chief executive, Stockton Rush, wanted to fund his research, according to a passenger who withdrew from the trip for safety reasons.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/NYPICHPDPICT000013115100-3.jpg?w=1024)
Bloom shared with Rush that his son was “concerned about the dangers” of the trip after researching “perceived risks to the ship”.
Bloom suggested that a sperm whale or giant squid might attack the submarine and breach the hull.
“Yes, very silly, the pressure is over 100 million kilos, no sperm whale or squid will ever give you the option to mess with a submarine,” Rush replied.
One other red flag for Dad was that there was no training before the planned submarine trip.
“Just climb through the hatch and get inside,” he told The Post.
As for equipment, passengers were not allowed to wear shoes inside the submarine. .
Despite Bloom’s claims that Rush had no interest in hosting extreme tourists, the OceanGate website actually advertises a visit to the Titanic as a worthwhile investment.
“Welcome to dive with us,” the website reads, promoting a $250,000 fare that features one underwater dive, private accommodation, all required training, expedition equipment, and all meals on board.
The submarine had made two previous trips to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean to observe the wrecked liner before its final, doomed voyage.
Rush took cost-effective shortcuts to construct the 21-foot vessel, which became the focus of much research after the disaster.
As well as to scaffolding poles converted into ballast, a four-star Logitech video game controller was used to control the five-man submarine, which was listed on Amazon for $49.99.
![Jay Bloom (right) almost bought seats aboard the Titan for himself and his 20-year-old son (right), but backed out after noticing how](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/NYPICHPDPICT000013099568-1.jpg?w=720)
While Rush’s use of off-the-shelf components gave the impression that OceanGate was strapped for money, Bloom said Rush used bargain parts because “he believes his industry is amazingly over-engineered.”
“In the name of security [Rush believed] a number of money is wasted,” he added.
Subsequently, relatively than improving the Titan’s parts to meet manufacturers’ requirements, Rush dismissed lots of the safety concerns as “inappropriate” and “another person’s opinion”, according to Bloom.
According to industry expert Patrick Lahey, president of Triton Submarines, it was also revealed that Rush was hunting “predators”, in search of a wealthy clientele to support his costly submarine trips to the Titanic.
“He could even persuade someone who knew and understood the risks … it was actually quite predatory,” added Lahey.
Actually, when Rush urged Bloom to make a journey over the text, he described the Titan as “much safer than flying in a helicopter and even diving.”
Bloom said seeing pictures of the late father-son duo “haunted” him.
“One decision and that might be our picture,” he told The Post.