Police weigh criminal probe into Titanic submarine deaths after vessel implosion

“The phenomenon of “dark tourism” has fascinated researchers for many years, but tourists are being increasingly drawn to places associated with atrocity, violence and disaster. Historic sites include Auschwitz-Birkenau, Chernobyl (before the war in Ukraine) and Ground Zero. However, “experiences” can now be excursions to sites of slavery, war, the famous dead, serial murder, natural disasters and, as in the case of the OceanGate trip, maritime tragedies such as the Titanic.”

Flags on board the main support ship for the Titan submersible could be seen at half-mast as it began to dock at St John’s harbour.

A Canadian national flag and a Mi’kmaq flag, which represents the North American people who inhabit the Maritime Provinces of Canada, were both at half-mast at either end of the vessel.

Jay Bloom, a Las Vegas investor, revealed in a Facebook post that he turned down seats on the Titan submersible trip, offered by OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, due to safety concerns.

In his post, Mr Bloom shared screenshots of messages he exchanged with Mr Rush months before the fatal trip in which he expressed safety concerns for himself and his son, Sean, who was supposed to join him on the excursion.

“I expressed safety concerns and Stockton told me: ‘While there’s obviously risk it’s way safer than flying in a helicopter or even scuba diving.’ I am sure he really believed what he was saying. But he was very wrong,” Mr Bloom wrote.

In text messages, Mr Bloom told Mr Rush that his son was concerned about “stupid” dangers like a giant squid or sperm whale attacking the submersible.

In response, Mr Rush assured Mr Bloom it was safe and due to the intense pressure at the depth of water they would be travelling, neither sperm whale nor giant squid would be able to reach them.

“There hasn’t been even an injury in 35 years in a non-military sub,” Mr Rush texted Mr Bloom.

Mr Bloom said he last saw Mr Rush in early March when the two went to the Titanic Exhibit at Luxor together.

Mr Bloom added: “Then, at lunch in the Luxor food court we talked about the dive, including safety. He was absolutely convinced that it was safer than crossing the street.”

A five-day search for OceanGate Expedition’s tourist submersible came to a grim conclusion on Thursday as officials confirmed the discovery of debris consistent with a “catastrophic implosion” presumed to have claimed the lives of all five passengers.

With recovery efforts to collect the debris underway, focus has turned to whether and how OceanGate could be held liable in court. Experts tell The Independent that one 172-year-old piece of legislation could prove pivotal for the company: the Limitation of Liability Act of 1851.

In the days after OceanGate chief executive Stockton Rush and his four paying crew members went missing on their way to the wreck of the Titanic, experts had several theories as to their fate.

But what exactly caused the Titan to implode? While we don’t yet know the truth of what happened, we do know enough to have some idea of what might have sealed the sub’s doom.

Online gamblers bet hundreds of thousands of dollars on whether the submarine that went missing on a recent expedition to the Titanic, in what online critics called a “dystopian” use of digital finance.

Since Wednesday, people wagered at least $300,000 on the fate of the vehicle using the crypto platform Polymarket, Mother Jones reports.

On the site, betters buy and sell shares on the outcomes of events using cryptocurrency, and can redeem their shares for $1 each if their guesses are correct.

Stockton Rush, the co-founder of OceanGate, and one of the five submarine passengers who died on the ill-fated Titanic expedition, was seen as a thrill-seeker by those who knew him.

After viewing the 2004 launch of SpaceShipOne, the first private effort to reach space, Rush told Smithsonian magazine that he decided he didn’t want to merely be a passenger on someone else’s expedition, but rather lead his own mission.

“I didn’t want to go up into space as a tourist,” he told the magazine. “I wanted to be Captain Kirk on the Enterprise.”