One year ago OceanGate’s Titan sub imploded, taking 5 lives with it

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. I believe Stockton realized the best way to do that was to prove it ourselves.” open image in gallery OceanGate’s high-res Titanic images and swashbuckling CEO helped cement its media presence and reputation; the disappearance of Titan in June 2023 prompted round-the-clock international coverage Rush threw himself headlong into the effort, spearheading OceanGate efforts that eventually led to a model called Cyclops, followed by Cyclops 2, renamed Titan. open image in gallery Renata Rojas, centre, poses with members of her July 2022 dive down to the wreckage of Titanic Detailing constant communication, mechanical and logistical problems on the aborted dive, Weed told Insider that Rush “was blinded by his own hubris, for lack of better word — blinded by his own confidence.” That confidence, however, was winning over other intrepid explorers and Titanic enthusiasts hoping to realize life-long dreams – and willing to pay through the nose for it, handing over $150,000 for the privilege of being a “mission specialist.” Chicago filmmaker David Waud, who was aboard Titan’s fifth exploration in summer 2021, told The Independent last year he’d signed up for the trip “quite a few years ago when it was a little bit less.” Rush, he’d reasoned, “wouldn’t have been down there piloting it almost every single trip, every single dive, if he hadn’t had 100 per cent confidence that submersible was okay.” Renata Rojashad dreamed of visiting the wreck since the age of 12, saved for decades and worked every contact she had before boarding Titan in 2022 to become the first ever Mexican woman to visit Titanic, she told The Independent that September. Until she could actually see the ship materializing before her, Rojas later told The Independent – prophetically – ““I didn’t want to get all my hopes up, because anything can happen until you get to the bottom.” open image in gallery Officials from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada board the Polar Prince, the main support ship for the Titan submersible; International rescue crews searched for four days before debris confirmed the fate of the sub and its occupants That reality would hit hard nine months later, after the Titan began its doomed final descent carrying Rush, Nargeolet, Harding and the father-son Dawood duo. open image in gallery David Waud, of Chicago, traveled in 2021 on Titan to the Titanic wreckage alongside OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, who was again piloting the doomed mission last year The president of the Explorers Club, which counted Harding and Nargeolet among its members and where Rush had spoken, lamented the deaths in a June 22, 2023 letter, writing: “Their memories will be a blessing and will continue to inspire us in the name of science and exploration.” Within weeks, however, OceanGate’s significant online presence had nearly vanished, and its office closed indefinitely.