The apparent success of the lease program may explain how Rush was able to attract what was OceanGate’s largest investment ever in 2020, at a time when the company was working on an expensive replacement for OceanGate. The TitanThe first body that cracked during testing. An $18 million grant allowed OceanGate to rebuild The Titan and proceed with the first one The Titanic for the 2021 tour. At this time, the documents show that OceanGate may have more control over the ownership of Cyclops 2 LLC.
But by 2023, OceanGate appeared to be in dire financial straits. Several witnesses at the Coast Guard hearings testified about what they saw as OceanGate’s financial difficulties as it approached the finale. The Titanic on his travels, including Rush predicting his salary and occasionally lending the company money from his own money.
$250,000 demand The Titanic dives seem to come out. In late May 2023, one of OceanGate’s partner retailers was advertising that there were still “very limited dates and places available at a 40 percent discount” on that summer’s cruise. This has not been reported before.
If the government’s investigation leads to any criminal charges, they will continue with the civil case currently in federal court in Washington state. In that case, a famous family The Titanic Explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet is seeking $50 million for his death on board The TitanThe lawsuit named as defendants OceanGate, Rush’s estate, and a number of other people and companies connected to the wrong submersible. Rush’s estate recently filed a motion to dismiss the complaint against it, saying: “As Rush’s employer, OceanGate is liable for Rush’s alleged negligence.”
Maritime attorney Alton Hall doubts Nargeolet’s family will recover anything close to the $50 million they are seeking. A 1920 law, the Death on the High Seas Act, generally limits damages to financial loss, such as future earnings. One would be if Nargeolet and his colleagues The Titan passengers, whom OceanGate calls “engineers,” qualify as seafarers under another law called the Jones Act. “There are books and books about who is and isn’t a Jones Act Marine,” Hall said. Passengers who died on board The Titan “They are not Jones Act sailors,” he believes.
The unknown question in these lawsuits—and other lawsuits—may be brought by the families of the two billions who also died at the time The Titan—is the one who can face legal consequences. The civil suit against the estate of OceanGate and Rush also names as defendants OceanGate’s original director of engineering, Tony Nissen, and three companies that developed The Titanis within the field of view. However, many witnesses at the Coast Guard hearings testified that Stockton Rush had the final say in many commercial, engineering, and operational decisions, and that his company was almost entirely bankrupt. In the end, there may be little that can be salvaged from the OceanGate disaster.
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