Stockton Rush, founder of the company that owns the missing submersible craft that was on its way to view the Titanic wreckage, has said safety is “pure waste.”
Founded in 2009, Everett, Washington-based OceanGate has been leading chartered expeditions on the Titan to the wreckage of the Titanic, 13,000 feet below sea level, since the summer of 2021 at a cost of $250,000 per person.But the experimental Titan craft, designed to explore a part of the Earth that few people have ever visited, is subject to little regulatory oversight and made passengers explicitly aware of the mortal risks they would face on board.
British-born sea adventurer Rob McCallum, who has visited the wreck of the Titanic, consulted for OceanGate in its earlier years but parted ways with the company for several reasons, including concern that chief executive officer Rush was moving too quickly,“I know Stockton well and think the world needs more Stocktons prepared to take a chance,” McCallum said at the time.
In a statement Wednesday, NASA said it consulted on the materials and construction process for the Titan but didn’t conduct testing or use its workforce or facilities for manufacturing. A former OceanGate employee, David Lochridge, raised concerns about the company’s safety practices, according to documents filed in a 2018 federal case.