American financier Jay Bloom offered 'last minute' discounted price to sit in doomed Titan submersible with his son - but he turned it down over safety concerns
An American tycoon has revealed a text exchange with submersible chief executive Stockton Rush, who tried to convince he and his young son to pay for a reduced six-figure seat to see the Titanic by telling him: "It was safer than crossing the street."
By David Wu
June 24, 2023
An American tycoon has revealed how submersible chief executive Stockton Rush tried to convince he and his son to buy two tickets on the doomed Titan vessel.
Financier Jay Bloom shared the text exchange with Mr Rush months before the CEO died with four other passengers when the craft suffered a "catastrophic implosion."
He tried to offer his friend a "last minute price" of $AUD225,000, with the original cost of the seat valued about $365,000 in April for an expedition the following month.
The first messages started as far back as February, when the chief executive wondered if there was an interest to see the famous shipwreck in the Atlantic Ocean.
Mr Bloom said his son Sean had been "put a little scare in him" after one of his friends researched the dangers of travelling in deep waters.
"I'm happy to have a video call with him. Curious what the uninformed would say the danger is and whether it's real or imagined," Mr Rush responded.
The financier said his son was worried about "perceived threats to the vessel," such as a sperm whale or a giant squid attack compromising Titan's hull.
"Yeah, very stupid. The pressure is over 100 million pounds. No sperm whale or squid is ever going to be able to mess with the sub," Mr Rush replied.
"While there's obviously risk, it's way safer than flying in a helicopter or even scuba diving. There hasn't been even an injury in 35 years in a non-military subs."
Three days later, Mr Rush would again try to reassure Mr Bloom and his son by sending a link to how deep sperm whales can go underwater.
Mr Bloom said he was not concerned about being eaten by a whale and decided to set up a Skype call, so his questions could be answered properly.
There would be limited text communication before Mr Rush sent a message on April 24, offering discounted tickets to see the Titanic wreck.
"Have a space on mission 1 (may 11-19) and 2 (may 20-28). Last minute price is $150k pp," the chief executive advised.
Mr Bloom said he would have to check his schedule to see if he could fit it in, as Mr Rush asked three days later: "Any luck?"
That trip would be later postponed to June 18 due to weather conditions.
Mr Bloom shared the messages to his Facebook page.
The financier even met face-to-face on March 1 with Mr Rush, who took him through the Titanic Exhibit at Luxor in Las Vegas before having lunch at a food court.
"He was absolutely convinced it was safer than crossing the street," Mr Bloom said on the post about his interactions with the creator of Titan.
Mr Rush also gave him a limited edition of a book of photos signed by him and French mariner Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77, who was also aboard the submersible.
Mr Bloom advised he could not join them on the once-in-a-lifetime trip until 2024.
Their tickets were later sold to prominent Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman, the latter who was "terrified" to go.
The fifth person was adventurer and British billionaire Hamish Harding.
The five men entered Titan and started their 3,800m journey down to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean on Sunday morning.
However, less than two hours into the trip, mothership Polar Prince lost contact with the roughly six-metre long vessel, which sparked a large-scale international search.
The United States Coast Guard on Thursday (local time) confirmed pieces of debris found near the Titanic wreck belonged to the missing submersible.
"An ROV subsequently found additional debris, in consultation with experts from within the unified command, the debris is consistent with the catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber (of Titan)," Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger told reporters.
Undersea expert Paul Hanken said five major different pieces of debris had led experts to conclude they were the remains of the OceanGate Expeditions craft.
"The initial thing we found was a nose cone, which was outside of the (Titan) pressure hull. We then found a large debris field and within that large debris field we found the front and back of the pressure hull," he said to reporters.
"Shortly thereafter, we found a second, smaller debris field and within that debris field we found the other end of the pressure hull.
"(It) ultimately contained the totality of that pressure vehicle. That was our first indication that there was a catastrophic event."
It was revealed the US Navy had detected an "anomaly consistent with implosion or explosion" where Titan was reported missing hours after the sub departed.
The Transportation Safety Board (TSB) of Canada announced on Friday (local time) it has launched an investigation, as Polar Prince was a Canadian-flagged ship.
A team of investigators will travel to St Johns in Canada's Newfoundland and Labrador where they will "gather information and conduct interviews."
It will also coordinate its operation with other agencies.
TSB will provide updates throughout the investigation.
