An investor and billionaire said he was offered cut-price tickets for Titan’s deep-sea trek to the Titanic but turned them down over a scheduling issue.
In a post to Facebook, tycoon Jay Bloom shared texts between himself and OceanGate chief executive Stockton Rush, who insisted the voyage would be “safer than scuba diving”.
Mr Bloom said he turned down the tickets offered to him and his son at the discounted price of $150,000 per person because of scheduling.
His son had also raised safety concerns, he said.
One of the texts from Mr Rush – who was killed when Titan imploded on its trip to the shipwreck – said: “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.”
Mr Bloom said he is “sure he really believed what he was saying, but he was very wrong”.
He said he last saw the OceanGate chief in March, when Mr Rush was “absolutely convinced” the dive would be “safer than crossing the street”.
“I told him that due to scheduling we couldn’t go until next year,” Mr Bloom said.
“Tomorrow is never promised. Make the most of today.”
In an earlier post – before the debris was found – he had said: “So this is crazy… I got invited to go on this dive. If I accepted, I would’ve been one of the five onboard right now.”
(Courtesy, excluding headline, SkyNews)
