Titan sub: OceanGate used ‘intimidation tactics’ and safety practices were ‘critically flawed’, report finds

The CEO of the submersible company, a British billionaire explorer, a French diver, and a father and son were all on board the Titan submersible that imploded in June 2023.

Stockton Rush, 61, was the chief executive of OceanGate, the firm which owned the Titan submersible.

He was an experienced engineer who had previously designed an experimental aircraft and worked on other small submersible vessels.

British adventurer Hamish Harding, 58, ran Action Aviation, a Dubai-based private jet dealership, and completed several exploration feats.

He visited the South Pole multiple times – once with former astronaut Buzz Aldrin – and flew into space in 2022 on board Blue Origin’s fifth human-crewed flight.

Image source, Dawood Family/ Lotus Eye Photography/ Reuters

British businessman Shahzada Dawood, 48, was from one of Pakistan’s richest families. He was travelling on the sub with his son Suleman, 19, a student at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, where he had just completed his first year at the university’s Business School.

Dawood lived with his wife, Christine, and other child, Alina, in Surbiton, south-west London. The family were spending a month in Canada prior to the dive.

Also on board was Paul-Henry Nargeolet, 77, a former French Navy diver.

Nicknamed Mr Titanic, he reportedly spent more time at the wreck than any other explorer and was part of the first expedition to visit it in 1987, just two years after it was found.