OceanGate faces backlash as job ad for submersible pilot surfaces

Erroneous beliefs spread as OceanGate job posting was misinterpreted following the submarine tragedy.

In the wake of a recent incident involving an imploded submarine owned by OceanGate, some individuals have mistakenly come to believe that a job posting from the company was published after the June 2023 tragedy. This misinterpretation has resulted in social media attacks directed towards the post.

On June 24, a screenshot of the job description was shared on a Facebook page with over 1.8 million followers. The screenshot indicated that OceanGate Expeditions, the operator of the ill-fated Titan submersible that experienced a catastrophic implosion during a dive to the Titanic wreck, had an “immediate opening” for a submersible pilot and marine technician.

The Facebook post, which received more than 1,900 shares, included the statement, “Well, it hasn’t even been one week,” seemingly referring to the recent disaster that claimed the lives of five individuals, including OceanGate’s CEO, Stockton Rush.

Contrary to the misconceptions, no job posting was made by OceanGate following the tragic event. In reality, the job ad had been circulated for at least three years prior to the incident.

OceanGate suspended operations in the aftermath of the tragedy, with their website being taken down and made inaccessible as of July 5, 2023.

The company has faced mounting criticism, including allegations of disregarding safety warnings from renowned Titanic director James Cameron.

The Manned Underwater Vehicles Committee, a non-profit industry organization, has also accused OceanGate of being “unwilling” to undergo the standard certification procedure for the Titan submersible.

Guillermo Soehnlein, OceanGate’s co-founder who left the company in 2013, emphasized that his late friend, Stockton Rush, was strongly committed to safety.

The spread of the job posting misinterpretation occurred through extensive sharing on social media platforms such as Facebook, TikTok, and Twitter, reaching users worldwide, including those in the US, Australia, and the Philippines.

Several news outlets reported on the job ad, but it was noted as “unclear” when the ad was originally published.

However, some social media users mistakenly believed that OceanGate had released the job description shortly after the submarine implosion.

Comments such as “Really distasteful but are we shocked?!” and “They posted this job opportunity when they were carrying out the search for the missing sub” further contributed to the misunderstanding and raised questions about the company’s actions.

Following the submersible accident, the job posting vanished from OceanGate’s website, leaving no trace of its existence. On July 1, a company representative announced the suspension of all commercial and exploratory operations.

The Port of Everett, where OceanGate operates as a tenant, tweeted on June 22 that the company was “closed indefinitely while the staff copes with the tragic loss of their team member.”

Archived records from the Wayback Machine revealed that the job ad had been present on OceanGate’s website since at least August 3, 2020. Additionally, traces of the ad were found on the company’s website in 2021, 2022, and June 22, 2023, when debris from the submarine was discovered.

The earliest Facebook post suggesting that the job ad was published after the submarine implosion appears to have originated from US-based comedian Nick Tigges.

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