OceanGate Likely Won’t Pay for Rescue Mission Costs

(NewsReady.com) – Five people died aboard the Titan submersible owned by OceanGate Expeditions when it imploded as it made its way to the Titanic wreckage. Before officials from the US and Canada figured out that the implosion happened, they carried out an extensive search and rescue mission. A new report claims the company likely won’t reimburse the governments involved.

The search and rescue mission included the US Navy, US Coast Guard, Canadian and French personnel. Canada and the US likely spent millions of dollars paying for the cost of fuel, food, maintenance, and personnel. Still, experts don’t believe the privately-owned company that owned the tourist submarine will pay for the operations.

Paul Zukunft, former commander of the Coast Guard from 2014 to 2018, spoke to The Washington Post and said the operation was “no different” than what officials do when boaters go missing. The Coast Guard goes out and recovers them but doesn’t “stick them with the bill after the fact.”

OceanGate is not footing the bill for the search and rescue operation that was made for the missing Titanic tourist submersible, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

So who is getting the bill?🤨https://t.co/c3lJFb9An4

— BoredApe6328.eth 🍌 (@DaybedNFT) June 23, 2023

During the search and rescue, the Navy dispatched its Flyaway Deep Ocean Salvage System (FADOSS), which cost millions of dollars to operate. The French ship L’Atalante, Canadian P-3 Orion, CP-140 Aurora, P-8 Poseidon, three US C-17 transport planes, three C-130 aircraft, and other equipment were used to find the vessel.

According to new information, the US Navy detected sounds “consistent with an implosion” after the submarine went missing on the first day. However, the military didn’t make that information public until Thursday. Wreckage from the implosion was discovered on the sea floor near the Titanic.

The victims of the accident included 19-year-old Suleman Dawood, his dad, Shahzada Dawood, OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, Paul-Henri Nargeolet, and Hamish Harding.

As for the search, there’s a possibility the incident could lead to new laws that more strictly regulate the submarine tourism industry. But time will tell.