A new Netflix documentary covering the 2023 OceanGate Titan incident was released on June 11 and has revealed some potentially interesting information. According to the documentary, Titan: The OceanGate Submersible Disaster, the late OceanGate CEO, Stockton Rush allegedly wanted to bring iconic rock band Pearl Jam on his ill-fated submersible. 

The new documentary features interviews with multiple former OceanGate employees and deep-sea exploration experts. In particular, the documentary featured a newly heard testimony from videographer, Joseph Assi, who claimed that Rush wanted to take Pearl Jam with him. Assi was originally hired to document the Titan’s expeditions to get it more exposure. He elaborated by stating, “The sub they were making was very basic, so the idea was- ‘Make us videos so we can catch the attention of people.” Assi later claimed that, “They had wild ideas, like they want to take Pearl Jam in the submarine, or he talked about some floating city that could also submerge.” However, according to Loudwire, there is no evidence that Rush was a fan of Pearl Jam or that anyone from OceanGate ever approached the band with the idea. 

The 2023 Titan submersible tragedy occurred on June 18, 2023 and resulted in the death of Rush and its four passengers. The passengers included French deep-sea explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, British billionaire Hamish Harding, Pakistani-British businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman. The five intended to travel over 12,500 feet deep in the northern Atlantic Ocean in the Titan to see the Titanic wreck. Unfortunately, less than two hours after their initial dive, OceanGate lost contact with the Titan and began a search. After four painstaking days, debris from the vessel was found on the seafloor and it was revealed that the submersible had imploded, killing all five passengers instantly. 

Photo credit: Stephen Hoffmeister