OceanGate CEO Planned to Die in Titanic Submersible, Friend Claims

OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush always intended to die at the wreck of the Titanic, according to a close friend who described the doomed submersible as a "mousetrap for billionaires." Karl Stanley, a fellow expert in commercial submersibles and a longtime friend of Rush, claims Rush designed the Titan to implode at the sea floor, fulfilling a desire to become part of "Titanic mythology."

"He was in fact a good engineer, and that machine did exactly what he designed it to do. He set a new standard for going out with a bang," Stanley told author Matthew Gavin Frank for his book, "Submersed: Wonder, Obsession and Murder in the World of Amateur Submarines." Stanley further asserted that Rush's "ego was so big he was willing to die and kill to be the pivotal character of this story. He wanted to go [die] at the wreck."

Rush and four passengers — French underwater explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, British adventurer Hamish Harding, and Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood — died in June 2023 when the Titan imploded during a descent to the Titanic. The passengers had paid up to $250,000 for the excursion.

Stanley, who testified during the U.S. Coast Guard's inquiry into the disaster, maintained that Rush was a "criminal" who knowingly fabricated a "futile" vessel to cause his own death and that of his passengers. The submersible's name, Titan, was a reference to the fictional ship in Morgan Robertson's 1898 novel "Futility," which depicted a massive ship sinking after hitting an iceberg.

Stanley recounted being on a test dive of the Titan in 2019 with Rush, during which he heard loud cracking noises but had his concerns dismissed by Rush. He stated that employees at OceanGate were fearful after the implosion, and that Rush's death and the incident were a narrative that suited them.