Everett company sets out on deep sea mission to document the Titanic
Oceangate operates submersibles that will bring a small crew to the bottom of the Atlantic this week to document the wreckage of the Titanic.
EVERETT, Washington – A space engineer in Everett and his crew will make history this week as they descend to the ocean floor to document the world’s most famous shipwreck, the Titanic, which sank in the Atlantic in 1912.
“It’s going to be a dynamic process,” said Stockton Rush, who said growing up he always wanted to go into space, but now he’s exploring new worlds under the sea.
“We really see the ocean as the final frontier,” he said. “I mean, that’s where humans will go. Most of life on this planet takes place in the ocean. There are hundreds of thousands of species yet to be discovered.”
Rush is the CEO of OceanGate, which owns and operates submersible boats. In contrast to a submarine, a submersible requires an auxiliary ship that is on the surface of the water.
In 2018, KING 5 introduced Rush’s company and its relationship with Washington State University’s electrical engineering program in Everett. At the time, recent graduates helped Rush bring his sub titan to life and prepare him for the world stage.
But a thunderstorm destroyed the electronics that year. In 2019 there were problems with the aid ship, then the coronavirus pandemic stopped last year’s attempt.
“It’s a much more difficult process than I could ever have imagined,” said Rush.
Where saw some setbacks, Rush saw opportunities and spent the last year improving some components, fine-tuning some, and exploring the depths of the Puget Sound.
But now Rush and his crew are ready to head to the middle of the Atlantic to prepare for the first week of diving. The team will go more than 12,000 feet below the surface on the only five-person submersible in the world that can reach this depth.
“Like most deep divers, it is this limited group of extremely wealthy individuals who buy and manufacture their own submarines and dive where they want to go. Oceangate offers the opportunity to explore the oceans for everyone, ”said Eilen.
Scientists and Titanic experts will join paying clients who also work as mission specialists for a view few have seen with their own eyes. The crew will also have special sonar and laser equipment to create a high-resolution 3D image of the Titanic’s wreck and record video.
“We’ll be going back every year. And that will allow us to have a level of what is called longitudinal data,” Rush explained. “This will be very valuable in studying decay rates and what types of microorganisms and aquatic species will populate an artificial reef.”
The goal of this multi-year project is to capture the Titanic in greater detail than ever before and to give the world a better idea of how long it could be seen.
Rush and his team are planning about 20 underground missions this summer, each lasting about 10 hours, about half of which will be on the Titanic.