Who was Stockton Rush? OceanGate CEO focus of Titan implosion documentary
Show Caption
Hide Caption
Newly released footage captures sound of Titan submersible imploding
Newly released video appeared to capture the sound of the Titan submersible imploding on its way to visit the Titanic wreck in June 2023.
Netflix released "Titan: The OceanGate Disaster" on June 11, a week before the two-year anniversary of the 2023 implosion that killed five people on a voyage to view the wreckage of the Titanic.
The documentary focuses on the role of OceanGate CEO Stockon Rush and his role as CEO of OceanGate "his quest to become the next billionaire innovator," according to the documentary's synopsis.
"'Titan: The OceanGate Submersible Disaster' makes a belabored point that OceanGate's failings leading to the implosion stemmed from Rush's leadership," Eric Francisco of Esquire wrote. "His short temper and arrogance permeated in all his efforts to build a business around deep-sea commercial tourism."
There were five people aboard the submersible on June 18, 2023 and were killed in the implosion: Rush, British billionaire Hamish Harding, French maritime and Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet, and a father and son from one of Pakistan's most prominent families, Shahzada Dawood and Suleman Dawood.
A series of hearings were held in 2024 as part of the investigation, and a lawsuit has been filed by the family of Nargeolet, claiming all five passengers probably experienced "terror and anguish" in their final moments.
The hearings revealed one of the final messages sent from the crew before it was crushed by the pressure of the ocean: "All good here."
Here's what you need to know about Stockton Rush.
Who was Stockton Rush?
Rush, 61, was a member of a prominent family in San Francisco and a descendant of two signers of the Declaration of Independence, SF Gate reported at the time of the implosion.
The outlet reported that he was working as an aerospace engineer for McDonnell Douglas when he married his wife Wendy in 1986.
Rush co-founded the company in 2009 and oversaw OceanGate's financial and engineering strategies, company's website said before being taken down in the wake of the implosion, USA TODAY previously reported.
Titan danger: Titanic sub took on extreme danger, while 'breaking the rules'
"We have heard the baseless cries of 'you are going to kill someone' way too often," Rush wrote in 2018 – according to The Conversation – after being told he was putting lives at risk using his experimental submersible. "I take this as a serious personal insult."
In an interview with CBS News Unsung Science, he talked about his dreams of being an explorer − "I wanted to be sort of the Captain Kirk" − and fears about going underwater.
"What I worry about most are things that will stop me from being able to get to the surface," he said.
Still, he insisted on the safety of submersibles and the value of taking risks.
"I mean, if you just want to be safe, don't get out of bed," he said.
What happened to Titan?
The submersible imploded about 1 hour and 45 minutes after its trip began, resulting in the deaths of its five passengers.
Two weeks after the incident, OceanGate said on its website it had suspended "all exploration and commercial operations." Its headquarters in Everett, Washington, were shuttered. Its business license expired on June 7, 2024, according to Washington Department of Revenue records.
The nonprofit research wing of the company, called OceanGate Foundation, was launched in 2010 but also closed in 2023, according to department records.
OceanGate Inc. also operated a subsidiary, OceanGate Expeditions, out of the same office. According to Washington records, it closed on March 31, 2021.
The U.S. Coast Guard continues to investigate what caused the implosion.
Contributing: Elizabeth Weise, Isabella Butera, Phaedra Tepham – USA TODAY
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
Lena Dunham strives to showcase 'different voices' in TV work after 'Girls' criticism
Lena Dunham is not the voice of her generation, and that's OK. The actress and writer, best known for the 2010s comedy "Girls," opened up about criticism of the HBO series in an interview with The Independent published on July 5. "One of the profound issues around 'Girls' was that there was so little real estate for women in television that if you had a show called 'Girls,' which is such a monolithic name, it sounds like it's describing all the girls in all the places," Dunham told the British outlet. "And so, if it's not reflecting a multitude of experiences, I understand how that would be really disappointing to people." Lena Dunham speaks out: Actress makes rare public speech in support of transgender rights The coming-of-age dramedy revolved around four twentysomething women in New York — Hannah (Dunham), Marnie (Allison Williams), Jessa (Jemima Kirke), and Shoshanna (Zosia Mamet) — as they navigated work, dating, and the harsh realization that they maybe shouldn't be friends after all. The show, which drew controversy for its frank portrayal of womanhood and predominantly white cast, ran for six seasons and picked up a pair of Primetime Emmy Awards. While recent reappraisals of "Girls" have recognized the series as a satire of millennial narcissism, Dunham said she "liked the conversation around 'Girls,'" including criticism of its racial diversity. Dunham has applied the feedback to her current work. The television mogul serves as writer, director, and executive producer on the Netflix series "Too Much," a romantic comedy starring Will Sharpe, Megan Stalter, and Aylin Scott. "The thing I have really come to believe is that one of the most important things is not just diversity in front of the camera, but it's diversity behind the camera," Dunham said. "As a producer, one of my goals is to bring a lot of different voices into a position where they can tell their story." Lena Dunham interview: 'Girls' star looks back on show criticism In a June 2024 interview with USA TODAY, Dunham reflected on the often-toxic discourse surrounding "Girls" and what it taught her as a creative. "The biggest lesson that I learned is that once your work is in the world, people are going to have the conversation they're going to have," Dunham said. "I try to hear when people have something valid to say, but also to disconnect from it enough that I can continue to make my work." Contributing: Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Lena Dunham on fatphobia, dating advice and her new London rom-com
Lena Dunham is almost synonymous with New York City. The US actress, writer and director rose to fame with her award-winning semi-autobiographical series Girls, which followed four 20-something women as they navigated love, life and friendship in the Big Apple. But her latest project - a Netflix rom-com loosely based on her life over the last few years - is set on the other side of the Atlantic. Too Much follows Jessica (Megan Stalter), who moves from New York to London after breaking up with her boyfriend, and falls in love with punk musician Felix (Will Sharpe). Just as Dunham did when she moved to London in 2021, Jessica quickly learns the important things about the UK: everybody loves Paddington, the Jaffa Cake debate is highly contentious (it's definitely a biscuit) and a "housing estate" isn't the sprawling gardens of a lavish manor house. Dunham tells the BBC that while Too Much has "superficial similarities" to her life and is "about 5% autobiographical", she didn't see herself ever playing the show's protagonist in the way she did in Girls. "I didn't consider Jessica to be me - she's inspired by my life but is her own character and was written with Megan in mind," she says. Megan Stalter says Girls "was all about sex and Too Much is about falling in love", which is a similar to how Dunham sees the show. There was also another reason she chose to step away from the spotlight. While filming Girls, in her 20s, Dunham's body was heavily scrutinised and last year, she told the New Yorker she "was not up for having my body dissected again". She explains that body shaming was part of the reason she stepped further behind the camera. "Just being perceived was overwhelming," she says. Dunham has spent the past few years focusing on writing projects that don't centre her as an actor. She believes society has made some strides towards being more body positive, but says the culture we live in is still "so deeply fatphobic, misogynistic, racist and ageist and that informs our dynamic with our body". The 39-year-old has been vocal about challenges she's faced with her health, particularly her endometriosis, which led her to have a hysterectomy aged 31. Asked how her relationship with her body has changed since then, she says she's developed a new love for how she looks. "I've been able to have a relationship with my body that exists outside of the cultural pressures and I feel lucky for that." As well as reflecting on how her self image has changed, Dunham also says she's learned a lot since her 20s. Having been in the spotlight for more than decade, the actress has had her fair share of controversies. In 2017, she defended Girls writer Murray Miller when he was accused of sexual assault. Dunham later apologised, saying it was "absolutely the wrong time" to share her perspective. Miller vehemently denied the claims and was not charged. She also apologised for a "distasteful joke" she had made on a podcast saying she wished she'd experienced a termination when discussing the US abortion. "I thought, back then, it was important to just keep going and be tough no matter what happened," she reflects. "I was so focused on work and not letting any of the noise in but I wish I had allowed myself to take more time and space. We all have to acknowledge our own complexities and sensitivities but it's hard to wrap your head around that when you're in your 20s." Dunham's new 10-episode series stars Hacks actor Megan Stalter and Will Sharpe, best known for playing Ethan Spiller in The White Lotus and films such as A Real Pain. Sharpe, 38, says he relates to the challenges his character faces, as "everyone carries baggage from their previous relationship" and feels vulnerable when they enter a new one. Stalter relates to her character too. The 34-year-old says she often "felt like she was too much" in her 20s but with time, has come to be proud of her who she is. Written with Dunham's husband, musician Luis Felber, Too Much focuses on the evolution of one romantic relationship. It's refreshing in its realness - from serious conversations between Jessica and Felix to the fact Jessica's media salary stretches to a housing estate in east London rather than a Bridget Jones-esque flat in Borough Market. I ask Dunham if she has any dating tips for women in their 20s, given she's been through the rollercoaster of trying to find a life partner. She says the concept of dating has changed over the years, and back in the late noughties, it was "considered a last resort or a strange thing to meet someone online". Looking back, Dunham wishes she would have allowed herself to understand what she really wanted rather than just seeing the cultural expectations that were placed on her. "If I was letting myself understand my own desire, my 20s would have looked really different romantically." Too Much is released on Netflix on 10 July. Lena Dunham pulls out of directing Polly Pocket Lena Dunham 'sorry' for defending writer Lena Dunham criticises 'diet tips' cover Lena Dunham sorry for abortion joke
UPI
6 hours ago
- UPI
Shazad Latif honored to tell Capt. Nemo's origin story in 'Nautilus'
1 of 3 | Shazad Latif and Georgia Flood star in "Nautilus." New episodes air on Sunday nights. Photo courtesy of AMC NEW YORK, July 6 (UPI) -- Star Trek: Discovery and Penny Dreadful alum Shazad Latif says he was excited to star in Nautilus and find ways to make Jules Verne's classic adventure story, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, his own. "That's the beauty of what we were able to do. It was a privilege, it was an honor, but it was very fun to get a chance to do that which you don't really get to do -- the origin story," Latif, 36, told UPI in a recent phone interview. "We sort of had free rein, so it was a very freeing experience, really." Set in the late 19th century, the series follows Captain Nemo as he escapes a British penal colony, steals back the show's titular submarine, which he designed for the East India Mercantile Company, and sets out with a ragtag crew to find a fabled Viking treasure. New episodes air Sundays on AMC and AMC+ The ensemble includes Georgia Flood, Céline Menville, Thierry Fremont, Richard E. Grant, Anna Torv and Noah Taylor. Like the Nemo in the book, Latif's hero is a bit of a mystery when viewers first meet him. "He still is a brilliant man, but we're seeing the man before the myth," the actor said. "You don't really get to know him in 20,000 Leagues. You don't really get to know his origin story properly, until Mysterious Island, the other book, so we're watching this genius, radical dude, but you're watching the young version, how he was shaped by the colonial forces around him, the trauma of that," Latif added. "He's a deeply emotional person. He's idealistic and and we watch him grow. We watch him learn that you can't do everything on your own." Along for the ride are several other former inmates -- who have no idea how to crew a type of underwater vessel they've never seen before -- along with several British captives and one very hungry dog. "It's almost a dictatorship at the start. He gives a lot of commands and expects a lot of action and no one to question him," Latif said of Nemo. "I suppose that's where the trouble starts -- when he realizes he has to open up and tell them his story and what happened to him, the horrible things that happened to him at the hands the East India Company, and show some vulnerability to get them on his side," Latif added. "It wouldn't just work if he's just giving orders." Nemo feels ownership of the Nautilus because he helped build the ship and named it for the type of seashell his beloved dead daughter once gave him. "It's his home. It's also his chance for revenge," Latif said of the Nautilus. "This is a ship that can give him what he wants and he needs the treasure to get back to London." Throughout the season, Nemo discovers there is more to life than his vendetta against the East India Company. "It becomes a safe haven," Latif said of the ship. "It becomes a home and then it becomes a thing of exploration and he opens up a bit to the beauty of the world by the end of it and realizes he's not just going to be hell-bent for the rest of his life against the East India Company. He is going to explore." Latif thinks audiences will relate to the show's themes of wealth, power and exploitation because there are still institutions crushing people in real life in 2025. "We keep saying we're more evolved and more civilized, but, I suppose, every day, there's still things going on which are still as bad as what the East India Company used to be," Latif said. "The reality is, they did some horrific, horrific things. Obviously, our show's a bit lighter than that and we touch on it, but it's, obviously, an adventure, a family show with elements of Pirates of the Caribbean," he added. "So, we don't delve deep into the horrific elements as such, even though it's obviously there as the backdrop. But it definitely resonates today. Just go look at the news and there's some horrific things going on, so it's just a timely reminder, I guess." Helping the cast immerse itself in the show's specific time and place were elaborate sets, including a magnificent practical representation of the Nautilus. "There was loads of CGI, but our ship was a working, walk-able thing, which was its own alive being. It was so well-designed and just puts you into the world and you're stuck in the studio all day and you don't really get much sunlight, so it just sort of felt like you were on the ship," Latif said. "It just made our job more fun and easier." Working in such close quarters for long amounts of time also helped the cast get to know each other really well. "You're all sitting together in the tent. Someone's napping. Someone's doing some work. Someone's drinking coffee," Latif said. "You just naturally form that bond that would naturally form on a ship." Secrets don't stay secrets for long... Don't miss a new episode of #Nautilus tonight at 9PM on AMC or stream it early on AMC+. AMC TV (@AMC_TV) July 6, 2025
