- Stockton Rush had a talent for convincing people that the Titan was safe, an expert said.
- Patrick Lahey, the president of Triton Submarines, said Rush's approach was "quite predatory."
Patrick Lahey, the president of Triton Submarines, told The New York Times that OceanGate Expeditions CEO Stockton Rush was on a "predatory" mission to convince influential people to support his doomed Titan submersible.
Rush was one of five passengers who died on board the Titan last week during a dive to the wreck of the Titanic. Debris found by search-and-rescue teams on Thursday suggested the vessel had suffered a catastrophic implosion.
Lahey, a friend of Paul-Henri Nargeolet, a passenger who died on the Titan, told the Times that Rush had a talent for convincing people about the safety of the sub.
"He could even convince someone who knew and understood the risks… it was really quite predatory," he said.
Lahey said he warned Nargeolet, who he referred to as PH, of the risks. "I told him in very candid terms why he shouldn't be out there," he told the Times.
"He understood. I believe PH thought in some way that by being out there he could help these guys avoid a tragedy but, instead, he ended up in the middle of one," Lahey continued.
Lahey called the Titan a "monstrosity" and said he told Nargeolet before the journey that he was becoming an ambassador for the unsafe mission by becoming a passenger.
Insider has previously reported on how Rush would brush off safety concerns from prospective passengers.
The financier Jay Bloom said Rush approached him and his son with an offer for cut-priced tickets at $150,000 instead of $250,000 before its doomed trip to the Titanic.
Bloom said he had tried to raise issues of safety with Rush, but the CEO had dismissed them stating that the trip was "safer than crossing the street."
Rush 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."
Bloom wrote in a Facebook post: "I am sure he really believed what he was saying. But he was very wrong."
While it is not clear what could have led to the implosion, the submersible's design had long attracted criticism from industry leaders.
Rush was aware of the concerns. According to a 2018 court filing, the former OceanGate employee David Lochridge sued OceanGate and accused the company of firing him in retaliation to him raising safety concerns in a report.
In a 2021 interview, the CEO acknowledged that he had "broken some rules" by using this unconventional, cheaper, material, but said that he believed his design was secure because of "logic and good engineering."
OceanGate did not immediately respond to a request for comment.