OceanGate Faces Federal Investigation a Year After the Titan Submersible Implosion
WiredThe United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York has contacted former OceanGate employees and expedition members as part of an investigatory probe, WIRED has learned from multiple sources. The carbon fiber submersible Titan imploded on a tourist trip to the wreck of the Titanic in June 2023, killing the five people on board, including OceanGate founder and CEO Stockton Rush. OceanGate has attracted more than $28 million in investor funding, with much coming from family and friends, according to witnesses at last month’s US Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation into the accident. OceanGate actually comprises multiple entities, including at least three for-profit US companies, one Bahamian corporation, and a nonprofit foundation dedicated to oceanographic research and education. Business documents filed with the state of Alaska show that Cyclops 2 LLC was managed by OceanGate Inc. and that at least two of OceanGate Inc.’s board members were investors in the company.