OceanGate headquarters ‘indefinitely closed’ after Titanic submarine implosion – latest

When millionaire Steve Fossett’s plane went missing over the Nevada range in 2007, the swashbuckling adventurer had already been the subject of two prior emergency rescue operations thousands of miles apart.

And that prompted a prickly question: After a sweeping search for the wealthy risktaker ended, who should foot the bill?

In recent days, the massive hunt for a submersible vehicle lost during a north Atlantic descent to explore the wreckage of the Titanic has refocused attention on that conundrum. And with rescuers and the public fixated first on saving and then on mourning those aboard, it has again made for uneasy conversation.

“Five people have just lost their lives and to start talking about insurance, all the rescue efforts and the cost can seem pretty heartless — but the thing is, at the end of the day, there are costs,” said Arun Upneja, dean of Boston University’s School of Hospitality Administration and a researcher on tourism.

Popular YouTuber MrBeast has claimed that he turned down a trip on the Titanic submarine that imploded earlier this week.

Police in Canada announced on Saturday that they are considering a criminal investigation over the deaths of five men in the Oceangate submersible implosion.

Superintendent Kent Osmond of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in Newfoundland and Labrador said law enforcement were in the early stages of the probe.

“Following the US Coast Guard’s announcement earlier this week that debris from the submersible was located and all five on board were presumed dead, we will now look at the circumstances that led to those deaths,” Mr Osmond said, at a press conference.

The Princeton graduate and Titan submarine entrepreneur insisted Atlantic dives were not dangerous and once said: “At some point, safety just is pure waste. If you just want to be safe, don’t get out of bed.”

The Independent’s Joe Sommerlad reports:

Perhaps the group had managed to surface and were awaiting rescue amid the Atlantic waves. Perhaps they were trapped underwater within the hull of their broken-down submersible, running out of air. Or perhaps they had suffered the worst-case scenario: a sudden, catastrophic hull breach, causing their sub to rapidly buckle under the crushing pressure of the water above them.

On Thursday, those worst fears were confirmed after the US Coast Guard announced that it had found pieces of the Titan submersible scattered across the ocean floor about 1,600 feet from the bow of the ill-fated ocean liner.

But what exactly caused the Titan to implode? While we don’t yet know the truth of what happened, we do know enough to have some idea of what might have sealed the sub’s fate.

The owners of Titanic sought to limit liability following the ship’s sinking by petitioning under 1851 legislation. The owners of the submersible lost on its dive to visit that famed ship’s wreckage may do the same thing, legal experts tell The Independent’s Sheila Flynn.

The company that operated the Titan closed its headquarters in Everett, Washington State, following the vessel’s implosion, which killed OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush and British billionaire Hamish Harding, French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his teenage son Suleman Dawood.

The leasing agent said in a statement to The Seattle Times that the company would be closing indefinitely.

The Coast Guard opened a marine board investigation on Friday and is working with the FBI to salvage debris on the sea floor at a depth of more than two miles below the surface.

Captain Jason Neubauer, chief investigator with the US Coast Guard, told reporters on Sunday, that that the “priority of the investigation is to recover items from the sea floor.”

The Independent’s Graeme Massie reports:

Netflix is facing criticism on social media after the streaming giant released a trailer for its new freediving documentary amid the search for the missing Titan submarine, and before the US Coast Guard determined the crew had died during a catastrophic implosion.

Produced by A24, The Deepest Breath tells the story of Alessia Zecchini, the current holder of the freediving world record.

The trailer was shared on Tuesday (20 June) as rescue efforts were well underway to find the five missing passengers onboard the Titan, which went missing on an expedition to see the Titanic shipwreck.