An old OceanGate submersible is up for sale – but the broker who has been trying to unload it for years fears he’ll never be able to after the Titan’s catastrophic explosion.
The 13 ½-foot vessel Antipodes was the first submarine purchased by Oceangate CEO Stockton Rush.
Rush was the pilot and one of the five men who died during the Titan’s ill-fated voyage to view the Titanic wreck thousands of feet below sea level.
Steve Riok, a yacht broker for the company, confirmed the old sub is listed for $795,000 and told Insider, ‘I want nothing to do with it.’
After OceanGate halted ‘all exploration and commercial operations’ in the aftermath of the Titan tragedy last week, Riok told Insider that the Antipodes would likely remain ‘tied up in litigation for years’ and likely never be sold.
An old Oceangate submersible is up for sale – but the broker who has been trying to unload it for years fears he will never be able to follow the Titan’s explosion last month.
The 13 ½-foot vessel Antipodes was the first submarine purchased by Oceangate CEO Stockton Rush.
OceanGate yacht broker Steve Reock said the sub was listed for $795,000, adding: ‘I want nothing to do with it.’
The Antipodes vessel was owned by several people before Oceangate’s CEO bought it as his first submersible.
Riok said it had been on many successful trips, including a shark-spotting expedition with rapper Macklemore as a passenger.
Rush later contacted Ryok to list the vessel for sale while the company built their second submersible, the Cyclops.
During the five years the sub was for sale, Oceangate continued to use it. Any interest in the purchase falls through.
According to the listing, the Antipodes were built by Perry Submersibles in 1973 and can go as deep as 1,000 feet in the ocean on ‘deep-water expeditions’ to ‘access the underwater environment’.
‘With six independent 5HP electric thrusters, the Antipodes are highly maneuverable at depth and extremely comfortable for the pilot and crew of four,’ the website says.
It is currently docked at Oceangate’s headquarters in Everett, Washington and is listed for $795,000. But Ryok said he will probably remove the post in a few weeks.
According to the listing, the Antipodes were built by Perry Submersibles in 1973 and can go as deep as 1,000 feet in the ocean on ‘deep-water expeditions’ to ‘access the underwater environment’.
Submersible pilot Randy Holt, right, communicates with support boats as he and Stockton Rush, left, CEO and co-founder of Oceangate, dive aboard the company’s submersible, “Antipodes,” about three miles off the coast of Fort Lauderdale. , June 28, 2013
It is currently docked at Oceangate’s headquarters in Everett, Washington and is listed for $795,000. But Ryok said he will probably remove the post in a few weeks
During the five years the sub was for sale, Oceangate continued to use it. Purchase falls through any interest
Riok says it has been on many successful trips, including a shark-spotting expedition with rapper Macklemore (pictured) as a passenger.
Riok points out a difference between the Antipodes Titan, explaining that the original sub was classified by the American Bureau of Shipping.
This means it was tested to see if it meets industry standards.
However, the Titan, which exploded en route to the Titanic wreck, killing five people on board, was not.
Riok said he doesn’t believe it matters to buyers ‘especially now because of the relationship with Oceangate.’
‘We’re in the process of divesting ourselves from the ship because it won’t sell,’ Riok told Insider. ‘No one will be able to sell the submersible for years because of the lawsuits—it’s a waste of my time and five years.’
Investigators believe Titan exploded on June 18 as it descended into deep North Atlantic waters.
The Coast Guard said last week that human remains had been recovered from the wreckage and that medical officials were examining it.
Along with Oceangate CEO Stockton Rush, two members of a prominent Pakistani family, Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his son Sulaiman Dawood, 19; British explorer Hamish Harding, 58; and Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargiolet, all died in the sub implosion
The company charged $250,000 per passenger to participate in the journey.
Investigators believe the Titan exploded on June 18 as it descended into the waters of the Atlantic
Oceangate campaign CEO Stockton Rush (right) with French Navy veteran PH Nargiolet (left) on the sub
Five people were on board, including British billionaire adventurer Hamish Harding (left) and Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleiman, who was just 19.
OceanGate is based in Everett, Washington and OceanGate Expeditions, a related company that led the Titanic divers, is registered in the Bahamas.
At least 46 people successfully traveled to the wreck of the Titanic in OceanGate’s submersibles in 2021 and 2022, according to letters filed in a US District Court in Norfolk, Virginia, which oversees matters involving the Titanic wreck.
Titan’s eruption until June.
The multi-day search and recovery of the wreckage from the 22-foot vessel has attracted worldwide attention.
Legal experts say they expect victims’ families to file lawsuits not only against Oceangate, but also against the Titan’s manufacturer and parts supplier.
The wreckage of the Titanic sub, recovered from the seabed near the wreck of the Titanic, is unloaded from the vessel Horizon Arctic in Newfoundland on June 28, 2023
But if Oceangate were to close entirely, their options would certainly diminish, said Richard Dennard, a distinguished professor at Northeastern University School of Law.
He said there is ‘no possibility of recovery of losses from the company’ if it no longer works.
Additionally, passengers were likely asked to sign liability waivers. One of the waivers signed by a person planning to go on the Oceangate expedition stated that passengers on the Titan could experience physical injury, disability, emotional trauma and death.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is conducting a safety investigation of Polar Prince, Titan’s Canadian-flagged mother ship.