ATLANTA, GEORGIA: RMS Titanic Inc., the company holding the salvage rights to the famous wreckage of the ocean liner Titanic, has recently released a map depicting the resting site of the ill-fated OceanGate submersible. As per the map image, the OceanGate submersible that went missing on June 18, now lies eerily close to the debris of the Titanic that had sunken in 1912, killing almost 1500 passengers.
The map is a tapestry of the accumulated sonar images and deciphered by the experts at the company RMS Titanic Inc. On Saturday, July 15, the company filed a map of the seabed under the North Atlantic Ocean in federal court where both the Titanic and the Titan submersible now rest, as per The New York Times. One of the submersible's doomed passengers was RMS Titanic’s director of underwater research, Paul-Henri Nargeolet. RMS Titanic has been in the news since the submersible went missing, but one might wonder what is the RMS Titanic company and how was it formed?
Who founded RMS Titanic, Inc.?
The company RMS Titanic is now a privately run company that was taken over in 2018 by a group of private equity firms including Apollo Global. But previously, the company, which was once compared to "graverobbers," was founded by a group of people from divergent backgrounds, with one goal in mind — to capitalize on the sunken wealth of the legendary shipwreck of Titanic, as per Insider.
The company, despite having a not-so-pristine reputation, is the only company that is legally allowed to salvage goods from the site, as per Insider. After the Titanic wreck was found by oceanographer Robert Ballard in 1985, a group of businessmen congregated to form the unique venture. This venture later morphed into the business that is called RMS Titanic Inc..
The founding members included the controversial “dwarf-tossing” agent G Michael Harris, the ‘People’s Court’ producer John Joslyn, Paul-Henri Nargeolet (who died in the fateful OceanGate submersible accident), Ohio based Joe Marsh, and Arnie Geller (who was infamous for his bizarre intention of sawing through the hull of Titanic wreck to find riches).
However, the company was legally barred from selling artifacts salvaged from the site. They were only allowed to arrange exhibitions of the artifacts obtained from the site by a court order. Throughout the first decade of the 2000’s, the company experienced a number of turmoils owing to the discontent among the company’s top officials. After a series of events, the company was privatized in 2018.
What happened to the Titan?
Titan was a submersible registered with the company OceanGate Expeditions. The company used the underwater vehicle to give the tourists a breathtaking view of the Titanic wreckage site almost two miles under the surface of the water. On June 18, the submersible lost contact with the parent vessel one hour and 45 minutes into the journey. After a thorough search, the US Coast Guard announced that they had found the debris of the submersible, indicating it had experienced an implosion, killing all five passengers aboard. The sub's unfortunate passengers were OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, the British billionaire Hamish Harding, Nargeolet, the Pakistani British businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman.
