Months after the Titan disappeared, what’s up with OceanGate?
Sep 28, 2023, 7:30 PM | Updated: Sep 29, 2023, 3:45 pm
This photo provided by OceanGate Expeditions shows a submersible vessel named Titan used to visit the wreckage site of the Titanic. Dave & Dujanovic discuss the latest in the investigation of the Titan submersible.(OceanGate Expeditions via AP)
(OceanGate Expeditions via AP)
SALT LAKE CITY — What is OceanGate up to these days? That’s the company that operated a submersible that captured the world’s attention for a few days in June 2023.
Five people, including a teenager and the OceanGate CEO, were inside the submersible called Titan somewhere near the wreck of the Titanic off the coast of Newfoundland.
The world let out its breath when the U.S. Coast Guard reported a debris field had been spotted not far from the Titanic. Based on the pieces that remained, the world concluded that the vessel had imploded. There were no survivors.
End of story?
No.
Nicole Burley has been researching everything that’s happened since the debris field was discovered on June 22, beginning with the cost.
“Right now, the count is more than a million dollars,” Burley, a reporter with News Nation, told KSL NewsRadio. “(It’s) approximately $1.2 million and counting when everything is all added up because the investigation is still ongoing.”
But at least for now, Burley says nobody has been charged that amount.
“Right now, the Coast Guard is saying they’re really not going to bill anyone because they consider this just like if a person on a boat were to go missing. They consider this the same.”
A school in Canada
Burley also reports that a school in Canada is being investigated for a partnership they entered into with OceanGate. According to CBC News, The Marine Institute had entered into an memorandum of understanding that would have saved space on the Titan submersible’s support vessel, the Polar Prince, for Marine Institute students.
In exchange, the school would have provided storage space for the submersible.
Burley said the school is now being questioned about not properly vetting OceanGate.
Next projects
The CEO of OceanGate, Stockton Rush, died aboard the Titan submersible along with four other people. But he had a business partner in Guillermo Sohnlein. Burley reports that Sohnlein is still thinking big.
“The co-founder of OceanGate is working on his latest venture that would send humans to (the planet) Venus,” Burley said.
“Basically, Venus is an uninhabitable planet. However, his goal is to have 1,000 people traveling and then living in Venus’s sulphuric acid clouds by the year 2050.”
Indian business publication Mint reports that the humans2Venus project involves humans living in a portion of Venus’ atmosphere, miles above the planet’s surface.
“This is something that (could) come with great reward,” Burley said, “if things go well.
“You could potentially be paying the ultimate price, if things go wrong.”
As did Stockton Rush, Paul-Henri Nargeolet, Hamish Harding, Shahzada Dawood, and his son Suleman when the hull of the Titan submersible imploded, instantly killing them.
Dave & Dujanovic can be heard weekdays from 9 a.m. to noon. on KSL NewsRadio. Users can find the show on the KSL NewsRadio website and app, as well as Apple Podcasts and Google Play.
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