Stockton Rush deliberately structured OceanGate's Titanic operations to be outside US jurisdiction, says former employee: report

• A former OceanGate employee has described safety concerns about the Titan submersible.
• They told The New Yorker that the company registered the vessel so it didn't fall under US laws.
• The vessel imploded on a trip to the wreck of the Titanic on June 18, killing five people on board.

A former employee of OceanGate, the submersible company whose vessel imploded on a trip to see the Titanic, said the company was structured to evade US regulations, The New Yorker reported.

"Stockton strategically structured everything to be out of US jurisdiction" for its Titanic pursuits, a former senior OceanGate employee told the outlet, referring to Stockton Rush, OceanGate's CEO.

"It was deliberate," they added.

The Titan imploded on an expedition to see the wreck of the Titanic on June 18, killing all five people on board, including Rush.

Since it first went missing, questions have been raised over why the Titan was not inspected for safety by independent watchdogs and regulators.

An expert told Insider during the search for the vessel that because the Titan operated in international waters it did not fall under US laws governing the safety of vessels carrying passengers.

The New Yorker's report supports that claim, with the outlet reporting on a legal filing where OceanGate said that the Titan was "being developed and assembled in Washington, but will be owned by a Bahamian entity."

The filing also said it "will be registered in the Bahamas and will operate exclusively outside the territorial waters of the United States."

The New Yorker reported that tourists paying around $250,000 for trips to the wreckage of the Titanic were also classed as "mission specialists" in another bid to evade potential US legal repercussions.

Insider has contacted OceanGate for comment.

In the past, Rush had insisted that despite its experimental design the vessel was safe, and told CBS last year that regulations can stall innovations of the kind necessary in deep-sea exploration.

"You know, at some point, safety is just pure waste," Rush said. "I mean, if you just want to be safe, don't get out of bed, don't get in your car, don't do anything. At some point, you're going to take some risk, and it really is a risk-reward question." 

But reports have since emerged that experts flagged safety concerns over the Titan's experimental design as far back as 2018.