A Las Vegas financier, Jay Bloom, has claimed that he turned down two spaces on the Titan Oceangate trip due to scheduling conflicts.
Bloom said on Facebook that he was offered reduced tickets for the voyage by Stockton Rush and shared screenshots of his text messages with the Oceangate co-founder in which he expressed his son’s safety concerns.
The remains of Titan, the submersible, were found on Thursday after a search-and-rescue operation. The voyage set off on June 18 but was soon reported missing. It was confirmed that the submersible had imploded.
Las Vegas tycoon Jay Bloom dropped out of Titan trip
Following the news that the submersible had been reported missing, Jay took to Facebook where he wrote that he was invited to go on the dive.
“If I accepted, I would’ve been one of the five onboard right now,” the businessman said.
He went on to claim that Stockton Rush, the co-founder and chief executive officer of OceanGate, had been trying to get him to go on the trip for “a year”.
In a follow-up post, Bloom said that he did not go on the trip because he “opted out due to scheduling”.
Businessman claims he expressed safety concerns to Rush
Bloom expressed safety concerns to Rush, he claimed in a Facebook post shared after the news that the submersible had imploded.
He said that Rush told him “while there’s obviously risk it’s way safer than flying in a helicopter or even scuba diving” and said that there had not been an injury in 35 years in a non-military subs”.
Bloom wrote: “I am sure he really believed what he was saying. But he was very wrong. He passionately believed in what he was doing.”
The businessman also shared screenshots from his text messages with Rush. His son, Sean, who had been invited to go on the Titan trip, had researched the “marine life at that depth and perceived threats to the vessel”.
Bloom said his son’s concerns, such as a sperm whale attacking the sub, were “really stupid” and Rush agreed, according to the messages.
Bloom’s seats went to the Dawoods, he says
Bloom and his son’s seats went to Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his 19-year-old son, Suleman Dawood, he said.
The other passengers who died on the trip included Hamish Harding, 58, a British adventurer and billionaire, Stockton Rush, 61, and Paul-Henry Nargeolet, 77, a former French Navy diver.
Rear Admiral John Mauger said on Thursday that the debris found was consistent with the “catastrophic implosion of the vessel”.
He said that he was unable to confirm whether the passengers’ bodies would be recovered, due to the “incredibly unforgiving environment” of the ocean.
The post Las Vegas businessman Jay Bloom claims he turned down Titan trip appeared first on HITC.
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