OceanGate canceled the Titanic dive for that 12 months, saying it had did not safe permits for a analysis assist vessel. But Mr. Rush pressed on. Mr. Sohnlein, who now lives in Barcelona, Spain, stated critics unfairly judged Mr. Rush’s selections.
“These people didn’t work at OceanGate, they weren’t part of the technology development program, they certainly weren’t part of the testing program and, regardless, everyone has their own opinion,” Mr. Sohnlein stated. “Stockton was very risk-averse.”
The firm declined to remark or reply an inventory of questions on Friday. “We are unable to provide any additional information at this time,” Andrew Von Kerens, an OceanGate spokesman, wrote in an e mail.
By 2020, OceanGate had filed paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission indicating it had raised about $18 million by promoting fairness to buyers. Mr. Sohnlein stated Mr. Rush “had probably lost money,” having kicked in on each spherical of funding and provided a lot of the seed capital.
By 2021, after a number of false begins, OceanGate was finishing expeditions to the Titanic at ticket costs that had greater than doubled to $250,000. Over the course of 2022, 28 folks rode in Titan, based on authorized paperwork filed by the corporate..
“It was a wonderful experience,” stated Alan Stern, 65, a planetary scientist who was on a Titan dive to the Titanic final 12 months. Mr. Rush was “intelligent” and “can-do.”
But, “they were frank in their paperwork and in their conversations,” he added of OceanGate. “This is not a ride at Disneyland.”
William J. Broad and Jenny Gross contributed reporting. Kitty Bennett contributed analysis.
Source: www.nytimes.com