A Las Vegas investor on Thursday published his account of giving up seats on the vessel believed to have suffered a “catastrophic implosion” during a dive to the wreck of the Titanic over the weekend.
Jay Bloom posted screenshots of purported text conversations between himself and Stockton Rush, the OceanGate Expeditions co-founder and CEO killed during the Titan submersible’s disastrous dive on Sunday. Bloom said he and his son were unable to take part in the excursion—despite apparently being offered a last-minute price—due to “scheduling.” Instead, Bloom says, Shahzada Dawood and his teenage son, Suleman, went in their place.
“In February, Stockton asked me and my son, Sean, to go with him on the dive to Titanic in May,” Bloom wrote in a Facebook post. “Both May dives were postponed due to weather and the dive got delayed until June 18th, the date of this trip.”
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The screenshots accompanying the post appear to show Rush texting Bloom—a man who has previously not denied descriptions characterizing him as a billionaire—on Feb. 3, asking if he’d made any progress on the decision to join a trip this year. “My son’s friend researched what could go wrong and put a little scare in him,” Bloom replied. “I’m trying to talk him down. He’s excited to go, but concerned about the danger.”
In response, Rush offered to have a video call with Bloom’s son. “Curious what the uninformed would say the danger is and whether it’s real or imagined,” Rush wrote. Bloom explained that his son had “researched the marine life at that depth and perceived threats to the vessel,” going on to write about the possibility of the vessel’s hull being compromised in the event that a sperm whale or giant squid attacks the craft. “Really stupid stuff,” Bloom added.
“Yeah very stupid,” Rush replied, saying that no sperm whale or squid would be able to “mess with the sub.” “While there’s obviously risk it’s way safer than flying in a helicopter or even scuba diving,” Rush continued. “There hasn’t been even an injury in 35 years in a non-military subs.” Rush also seemingly offered to send an email explaining a 1967 incident in which the deep-submergence vehicle Alvin, which later explored the Titanic wreck, was attacked by a swordfish and forced to surface after the fish became stuck in the side of the craft.
A subsequent text from Rush on April 24 appeared to offer spots on the Titan at a “last minute price” of $150,000 per person—$100,000 less than the reported cost for other passengers. In a WhatsApp exchange, Rush messaged Bloom in May saying: “Things going well. Titanic weather looking good for next cycle May 20-28. 2 spits [spots] on that and May 29-June 7.”
“I am sure he really believed what he was saying,” Bloom wrote. “But he was very wrong.” He added that he last saw Rush in person on March 1 when the pair attended a Titanic exhibition at the Luxor Las Vegas casino hotel. “Then, at lunch in the Luxor food court we talked about the dive, including safety,” Bloom wrote. “He was absolutely convinced that it was safer than crossing the street.”
“He gave me a book of photos (1 of 324 produced) signed by him and Paul Henri Nargeolet, two of the five onboard the sub,” Bloom added. “I told him that due to scheduling we couldn’t go until next year. Our seats went to Shahzada Dawood and his 19 year old son, Suleman Dawood, two of the other three who lost their lives on this excursion (the fifth being Hamish Harding). One last time.. RIP Stockton and crew.”
“As for Sean and I, after this right on the heels last week of losing Treat Williams, another friend of 25 years and former business partner, we are going to take a minute to stop and smell the roses,” Bloom wrote. “Tomorrow is never promised. Make the most of today.”
After several days of a massive international search and rescue effort, U.S. Coast Guard Adm. John Mauger announced Thursday that debris from Titan had been discovered near the Titanic and offered condolences’ to the crew’s families. Guillermo Sohnlein, who co-founded OceanGate with Rush, told Sky News Friday that the company’s board of directors will be “considering” whether or not the company can survive in the wake of the disaster.
“The team that spent four days hoping that they could find their teammates and rescue them, it must be a difficult time for them,” Sohnlein said. “I’m sure they’e going to be spending the next few days, weeks, months getting over this.” He added that he is not qualified to say if the company is liable for negligence as he left the business a decade ago.
