OceanGate canceled the Titanic dive for that year, saying it had failed to secure permits for a research support vessel. But Mr. Rush pressed on. Mr. Sohnlein, who now lives in Barcelona, Spain, said critics unfairly judged Mr. Rush’s decisions.
“These people didn’t work at OceanGate, they weren’t part of the technology development program, they certainly weren’t part of the testing program and, regardless, everyone has their own opinion,” Mr. Sohnlein said. “Stockton was very risk-averse.”
The company declined to comment or answer a list of questions on Friday. “We are unable to provide any additional information at this time,” Andrew Von Kerens, an OceanGate spokesman, wrote in an email.
By 2020, OceanGate had filed documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission indicating it had raised about $18 million by selling equity to investors. Mr. Sohnlein said Mr. Rush “had probably lost money,” having kicked in on every round of investment and supplied much of the seed capital.
By 2021, after a few false starts, OceanGate was completing expeditions to the Titanic at ticket prices that had more than doubled to $250,000. Over the course of 2022, 28 people rode in Titan, according to legal documents filed by the company.
“It was a wonderful experience,” said Alan Stern, 65, a planetary scientist who was on a Titan dive to the Titanic last year. Mr. Rush was “intelligent” and “can-do.”
But, “they were frank in their paperwork and in their conversations,” he added of OceanGate. “This is not a ride at Disneyland.”
William J. Broad and Jenny Gross contributed reporting. Kitty Bennett contributed research.