Stockton Rush: Deep-sea explorer and Titanic dreamer

Underwater exploration pioneer missing during expedition to famous shipwreck

Stockton Rush, left, chief executive and co-founder of OceanGate, is missing on a submarine dive to view the Titanic. AP

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Stockton Rush, the man behind the missing Titanic submarine, has a dream: to revolutionise underwater travel in a manner akin to how industry giants such as Elon Musk, Richard Branson, and Jeff Bezos are reshaping space travel.

The owner of Oceangate, the company that operates the submersible, is believed to be on board Titan with British billionaire Hamish Harding, Shahzada and Suleman Dawood and Paul Henry Nargeolet.

Before the latest mission, he said of his first dive in the sub: “This is amazing. It’s just such a different experience. It’s a totally different emotion.”

His long-held plans to open up the depths to tourists were revealed in a TV programme.

The pioneer of deep-sea exploration guided a group of paying adventurers to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean to explore the world's most famous wreck, the Titanic.

Mr Rush explained: "This is not your grandfather’s submarine. It has one button, and that’s it. We run the sub with this game controller. It’s made by Logitech but it’s basically a Sony PlayStation style controller".

The expedition, which was filmed for an episode of the BBC Travel programme, was a major milestone in Mr Rush's quest to make deep-sea exploration more accessible.

He appeared on the programme wearing a branded polo shirt, talking excitedly about his dream of diving and exploring famous locations.

“I read an article that said there are three words in the English language which are known throughout the planet,” Mr Rush said. “That's Coca-Cola, God and Titanic.”

Mr Rush imagines a future where anyone – provided they have the financial means – can embark on adventurous voyages to uncharted depths, with no special training required.

To Mr Rush, the founder of a venture aimed at democratising deep-sea exploration, the site of the world's most infamous shipwreck was a compelling lure, a “must-do dive”.

Transforming this Titanic dream into reality was no small feat. Mr Rush had to pioneer a new class of submersible, engineered from lightweight materials capable of conveying up to five people from the ship to the depths where the Titanic rests.

Stockton Rush opens the hatch on the company's submersible 'Antipodes,' about three miles off the coast of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. AP

Many doubted the feasibility of such an ambitious undertaking.

Nevertheless, Mr Rush proved the sceptics wrong when he successfully reached the wreck site last year.

In the episode, which was broadcast in October 2022, the explorer was accompanied by the crew, OceanGate staff, scientists, and the so-called “mission specialists”.

This critical contingent of paying adventurers had each parted with up to $250,000 for the unique opportunity to see Titanic up close.

Aside from the sheer thrill of the expedition, the mission specialists were also given the chance to contribute as citizen scientists. They were responsible for capturing images and video footage of the deep-sea biodiversity, thereby playing a role in broadening our understanding of these largely unexplored realms.

Who is Stockton Rush?

Mr Rush's career began in aviation, becoming the youngest jet transport rated pilot at the age of 19.

During college, he journeyed to exotic destinations such as Cairo and Damascus as a DC-8 first officer.

Over the last two decades, Mr Rush has been instrumental in various successful intellectual property ventures, including a significant role in BlueView Technologies' acquisition by Teledyne Inc.

Mr Rush constructed a Glasair III experimental aircraft and a modified Kittredge K-350 two-man submersible, conducting over 30 dives.

An alumnus of Princeton University and UC Berkeley Haas School of Business, Mr Rush has penned numerous engineering articles and spoken widely on the burgeoning ocean economy.