His fatal ‘attraction’
Titanic was Rush pa$$ion: client who nixed sub trip
OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, who was killed in the Titan tragedy, only launched the extreme tourism venture so he could fund his obsession with the Titanic, a person who nearly booked passage on the doomed sub claimed.
Las Vegas financier Jay Bloom told The Post in an exclusive interview Thursday that he backed out of paying $500,000 for two tickets aboard Titan over safety concerns raised by his son, whom he was planning to take on the voyage.
“[Rush] wasn’t really looking to build a tourism business to the Titanic,” Bloom said. “He wanted to research and document the decay of the ship over time.
“Multiple dives to the site costs a lot of money. A way to finance his scientific observation was to bring observers down with him,” Bloom added.
Titan’s implosion on June 18 killed all five aboard: Rush, 61, British billionaire Hamish Harding, 58, French Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77, as well as 48year-old Pakistani billionaire Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son, Sulaiman.
Bloom shared text message conversations between himself and Rush on Facebook from back in February as he considered purchasing two seats on the sub for himself and his 20-year-old son, Sean.
Bloom shared with Rush that his son was “concerned about the danger” of the trip after researching the “perceived threats to the vessel.”
Bloom suggested a sperm whale or a giant squid could attack the sub and compromise the hull.
“Yeah very stupid the pressure is over 100 million pounds no sperm whale or squid is ever going to be able to mess with the sub,” Rush replied.
Another red flag for the dad was there was no training ahead of his scheduled sub trip.
“Just climb through the hatch and get in,” he said.
As far as gear, passengers weren’t allowed to wear shoes inside the sub.
Despite Bloom’s claims that Rush wasn’t interested in hosting extreme tourists, OceanGate’s website certainly touts the journey to the Titanic as a worthwhile investment.
Bloom said seeing photos of the deceased father-son duo has “haunted” him.
“One decision, and that would have been our picture,” he said.