Two Years After Oceangate, Another Billionaire Hears the Siren Call of the Titanic

Two years ago, a guy named Stockton Rush was killed while piloting his “experimental” submarine towards the site of the Titanic. On board the “Titan” were four other unfortunate victims, including Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood (described as a billionaire) and his teenage son. Rush’s company, Oceangate, had made its money by courting wealthy clients and taking them on trips to the undersea site, but that all ended with an unfortunate implosion. Now, yet another billionaire has reportedly heard the call and is looking to visit the deep, dark depths where the century-old avatar for technological hubris sits.

“Besides it being a wreck of historical significance, the fact that it lies at such great depth makes it fascinating to visit,” Patrick Lahey, CEO of Triton Submarines, recently told the New York Post. A source with knowledge of upcoming plans for an exhibition to the famous wreckage told The Post: “I heard that somebody is going down to the Titanic in a couple weeks. What I can tell you is that it’s a billionaire. Going down there will cost $10 million. You would recognize his name.”

Unfortunately, the report does not say who the billionaire is, nor does it identify the source. If the report is accurate, we should know the details soon enough, however. A little over a year ago, the BBC reported that oil and real estate billionaire Larry Connor was intent on visiting the Titanic’s wreck, with the help of Lahey.

It’s notable that, as far as can be discerned, most companies that operate in the underwater tourism industry share very little in common with Oceangate, which was widely viewed as a shit show, even before one of its voyages killed five people, including its CEO. A U.S. Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation report that was published earlier this year details the various deficiencies in the company’s approach to underwater navigation, noting that Oceangate’s “design and testing processes” for its submersible Titan “did not adequately address many of the fundamental engineering principles that are considered crucial for ensuring safety and reliability for operations.”

Just as one example of how crazy Oceangate was, Connor and Lahey previously stated that there was no timeline for their visit to the Titanic, and that they would only dive to the site once their sub was fully certified by a marine organization. This is what you’re supposed to do. Oceangate’s Titan, meanwhile, was never officially certified, according to the company. Additionally, a lawsuit previously claimed that the sub’s viewport was only certified to travel 1300m under the water, despite the fact that the Titanic is nearly 4,000m under the waves.

Lahey, himself, has previously weighed in on Rush’s suboptimal business practices. “The OceanGate tragedy was entirely avoidable,” he previously said, of the disaster. “There’s no place for experimental vehicles in continued human exploration of the deep sea,” he added. “If you want to take human beings into the deep sea, you have to be held to a higher standard. And that high standard, that high bar has to be accreditation certification.”

Triton’s sub, the Explorer, looks vaguely like a Mr. Coffee machine. “The Triton 4KM/2 Abyssal Explorer will be utilised to inspire, educate, and advance oceanic research for generations to come,” the company announced last year. Lahey’s company Triton manufactures submarines but, unlike Oceangate, does not offer private trips in them, a company spokesperson told Gizmodo.

It’s unclear why billionaires are so obsessed with the ocean. Or space. Maybe it’s because those things are vast and obvious symbols of exploration and the unknown, and they have a desperate desire to write themselves into history? Whatever the reason, such preoccupations would seem to betray a decided lack of imagination in the gilded class. Their whole decision-making process is to look at the biggest thing in front of them and be like, “I will commit my life to THAT.”

In addition to wanting to traverse it with their own submarines, various members of the oligarchy are also interested in colonizing it. Earlier this year, it was reported that a “deep-pocketed donor” was funding DEEP, an effort to create a “permanent human settlement” under the ocean’s waves.