OceanGate CEO used ‘predatory behaviour’ to convince people onto Titanic sub
OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush allegedly used "predatory behaviour" to convince passengers on board the doomed Titan submersible.
Investigations from The Titanic Foundation into Rush's claims regarding the vessel, which imploded killing five including the CEO on its voyage to the Titanic, are currently underway.
This comes just days after a submersible expert suggested the presence of Paul-Henri Nargeolet, a French explorer who died on Titan, “legitimised” the OceanGate vessel despite numerous concerns over its safety.
READ MORE: OceanGate still advertising Titanic trips for next year despite sub catastrophe
RMS Titanic Inc president Jessica Sanders described Rush as "cavalier" after he previously boasted his submarine and trips to the ocean depths were safer than "crossing the street" or "scuba diving".
Sanders said: "We have now our own internal questions about the representations [OceanGate] made that we made the basis on giving Paul-Henri Nargeolet the OK to go.
"We’re going back and looking at that now ourselves internally because there were representations not only made to us but made to the court, that now we have to go back and verify because of these stories that are coming up that question them."
The investigation comes as Rush was claimed to be on a "predatory" hunt for wealthy individuals to coax onto his submarine trip.
Triton Submarines president Patrick Lahey said Rush was a persuasive individual who had convinced Nargeolet to board the sub.
Moment Brit tourists plunge into the sea as Greek tourist boat bursts into huge inferno
Lahey said: "He could even convince someone who knew and understood the risks … it was really quite predatory."
Lahey even said he warned Nargeolet of the dangers involved in the submarine, but that the Frenchman believed he could "help these guys avoid a tragedy".
He added: "You’re becoming an ambassador for this thing; people look at you and your record and the life you lead and things you’ve done, which are extraordinary, and in some ways you are legitimising what [OceanGate] are doing."
Rush, Nargeolet, along with British billionaire Hamish Harding, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood, were all killed in the submarine.
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