OceanGate

This article is about the submersible company. For the borough in New Jersey, see Ocean Gate, New Jersey.

OceanGate Inc.
Company typePrivate
IndustryTourism, expeditions, underwater diving
Founded2009; 15 years ago (2009)
FoundersStockton Rush
HeadquartersEverett, Washington, U.S.
Key people
  • Stockton Rush (CEO, 2009–June 2023)
  • Gordon Gardiner (CEO, August 2023–present)
Websiteoceangate.com
Archived June 21, 2023, at the Wayback Machine

OceanGate Inc. is an American privately owned company based in Everett, Washington, that provided crewed submersibles for tourism, industry, research, and exploration. The company was founded in 2009 by Stockton Rush and Guillermo Söhnlein.

The company acquired a submersible vessel, Antipodes, and later built two of its own: Cyclops 1 and Titan. In 2021, OceanGate began taking paying tourists in Titan to visit the wreck of the Titanic. In 2022, the price to be a passenger on an OceanGate expedition to the Titanic shipwreck was $250,000 per person.[1]

On June 18, 2023, Titan imploded during a voyage to the Titanic wreck site, killing all five occupants on board, including Rush.[2] An international search and rescue operation was launched,[3] and on June 22 the wreckage was found on the seabed about 500 meters (1,600 ft) from the Titanic wreck site. On June 21, it was announced that OceanGate's Everett office was closed indefinitely, and on July 6, OceanGate suspended all operations.[4][5][6] Since August 2023, Gordon Gardiner has been the company's CEO.[7] Until official investigations and the company's shutdown are completed, the company is out of business.[8]

  1. ^ Waterman, Andrew (November 17, 2021). "'Citizen scientists' pay $250K to work Titanic expedition at depths of 12,500 feet in the North Atlantic Ocean". SaltWire. Archived from the original on June 22, 2023. Retrieved June 20, 2023.
  2. ^ Shpigel, Ben; Victor, Daniel (June 22, 2023). "Missing Titanic Submersible: All Five on Board Believed Dead After 'Catastrophic Implosion'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on June 22, 2023. Retrieved June 22, 2023.
  3. ^ "What to know about the 5 passengers on the missing Titanic sub". CBS News. June 20, 2023. Archived from the original on June 22, 2023. Retrieved June 21, 2023.
  4. ^ Rosenblatt, Lauren (June 22, 2023). "OceanGate office in Everett closed indefinitely following CEO death". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on June 23, 2023. Retrieved June 23, 2023.
  5. ^ "OceanGate: Firm that owned the submersible Titan suspends commercial operations". Sky News. July 6, 2023. Archived from the original on July 20, 2023. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
  6. ^ Graziosi, Graig (July 6, 2023). "OceanGate Expeditions ceases operations after Titanic sub implosion killed five". Independent.co.uk. Archived from the original on July 24, 2023. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
  7. ^ Seattle tech exec Gordon Gardiner will face challenging task as OceanGate’s new CEO Archived February 17, 2024, at the Wayback Machine GeekWire
  8. ^ Associated Press (October 10, 2023). "US Coast Guard recovers remaining parts from imploded Titan submersible". The Guardian. Retrieved February 16, 2024.