At least four people have now revealed why they decided not to embark on Titan’s doomed voyage, Web is able to reveal today.
Diver Chris Brown has signed off after “a few beers” while holidaying on Sir Richard Branson’s Necker Island with his tragic pal Hamish, 68 – and today declared he was “deeply saddened” by the “lost souls” who died in the sea Atlantic had perished.
Today Web announced that Vegas financier Jay Bloom and his son Sean have also turned down a trip with his son Sean – even when offered a $100,000 discount off the $250,000 price tag by OceanGate CVEO Stockton Rush became.
And another explorer, David Concannon, was scheduled to join the trip but had to cancel at the last minute.
Mr Brown, 61, from Harrogate, North Yorkshire, paid his bail for the £80,000 trip to the wreck but later backed out for safety reasons, including after learning scaffolding poles were being used for ballast.
He said today, “I am deeply saddened by the tragedy of Titan.” The world of exploration has lost some amazing figures. And my thoughts are with the families of all lost souls.’
Jay Bloom and his son Sean (pictured together) were about to embark on the doomed Titanic voyage – and were even offered a last-minute discount, but declined due to safety concerns
Chris Brown has spoken out about his sadness at the deaths of the five men – and said he was asking for his money back for safety reasons
David Concannon was scheduled to participate in the dive but was unable to attend the 11th hour due to another client issue
Titan imploded near the wreck of the Titanic
After a “catastrophic failure,” wreckage of their subversive was found by a robotic submarine at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.
Also, the submarine ran out of oxygen yesterday and any hope of finding her alive ended.
Also on board were Britons Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his 19-year-old son Suleman, as well as OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, 61, and Paul-Henry Nargeolet, 77.
Chris, who signed up in 2016, claimed, “I found out they used old scaffolding poles for the sub’s ballast.”
“And its controls were based on computer game-style controllers. If you’re trying to build your own submarine, you could probably use old scaffolding poles.
“But that was a commercial ship. I finally emailed them and said, ‘I can’t go on with this anymore.’ I’ve asked for a refund after I wasn’t convinced.’
Jay Bloom has shared text messages between himself and OceanGate chief executive Stockton Rush, which reveal he and his son have been offered a “last minute price” of $150,000 a head (£120,000) – a discount on the usual Fee of US$250,000 (£195,000).
Mr Bloom, a Democrat supporter photographed with Joe Biden, has described his sadness at the death of Mr Rush and his sadness that Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, who was just 19, had taken their places and together perished with French Navy veteran Paul-. Henri Nargeolet and British billionaire Hamish Harding.
In a Facebook post, he said: “I raised safety concerns and Stockton told me, ‘While there’s obviously a risk, it’s a lot safer than flying a helicopter or even scuba diving.’
“He absolutely believed it was safer than crossing the street.” I’m sure he really believed what he said. But he was very wrong.
Jay Bloom, pictured with Joe Biden, revealed he was initially offered the seats on Titan but had safety concerns
Mr Rush speaks to Mr Bloom about taking part in his company’s trip to the Titanic wreck
Mr Bloom’s Facebook post shows his sadness that Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, just 19, have taken his and his own son’s places
Stockton Rush shows the controller used to control the Titan – which has been compared to something from an XBox or PS5
In February this year, Stockton Rush asked Mr Bloom and his son Sean to take part in a dive to the Titanic in May. Both May dives were postponed due to weather and the dive was delayed until June 18, the date of the ill-fated trip.
Mr Bloom said: “I told him we couldn’t go until next year due to scheduling issues.” Our places went to Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman Dawood, two of the other three who lost their lives on that outing, who fifth was Hamish Harding.
“RIP Stockton and crew. As for Sean and I…we’re going to take a minute to stop and smell the roses. Tomorrow is never promised. Make the most of today.
Text messages between Mr Rush had repeatedly attempted to convince Mr Bloom of the safety of Titan and the route to the wreck of Titanic.
He said his son was very concerned about the risks after speaking to a friend. Mr Rush said: “I am delighted to have a video call with him.” I am curious what the uninformed would say about the danger and whether it is real or imagined.
They discussed how the hull would handle pressure or even if it came in contact with a whale or squid.
Mr Rush said: “While there is obviously a risk, it is much safer than flying in a helicopter or even scuba diving. In non-military submarines there has not been one injury in 35 years.”
David Concannon was supposed to be on the dive but couldn’t be there due to another customer issue.
Concannon said in a statement shared by the Titanic Book Club: “As I posted last week I was supposed to take part in this expedition and indeed this dive, but I had to cancel to attend to another urgent customer matter.”
A satellite image shows ships involved in the search and rescue operations related to the missing Titan submersible near the wreck of the Titanic
OceanGate Expeditions has reportedly been warned repeatedly about safety concerns
Five people were on board, including British billionaire adventurer Hamish Harding and Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman
Paul-Henri Nargeolet (left), French Navy veteran, and Mr. Rush (right), CEO of OceanGate Expeditions
Titanic director and diving expert James Cameron said he predicted Titanic’s implosion days before the wreckage of the missing submersible was found, calling the search an “ongoing nightmarish charade”.
Mr Cameron, who has visited the world’s most famous seawreck 30 times, said this week’s tragedy paralleled the 1912 disaster, in which the captain repeatedly ignored warnings of an oncoming iceberg but proceeded at top speed.
The five on Titan died instantly when the submersible suffered a “catastrophic implosion” just 1,600 feet from the bow of the wrecked ocean liner, the US Coast Guard said yesterday. A remote-controlled submarine belonging to a Canadian ship found debris on the seabed.
But officials say the men likely died on Sunday – before military planes carrying sonar buoys detected what they thought could be SOS booms in the water. The US Navy said it heard a sound suggesting an implosion when communications were cut about two hours after the dive. The Navy has relayed this information to the Coast Guard, an insider said.
Mr Cameron told BBC News that the coastguard search “felt like a drawn out and nightmarish farce with people running around talking about pops, oxygen and all that other stuff”.
“I knew the submarine was just below its last known depth and position. That’s where they found it,” he said.