OceanGate Inc. is an American privately owned company based in Everett, Washington, that provided crewed submersibles for tourism, industry, research, and exploration.

[2] An international search and rescue operation was launched,[3] and on June 22 the wreckage was found on the seabed about 500 meters (1,600 ft) from the Titanic wreck site.

[8] Stockton Rush had an interest in aviation and space travel as a child, and obtained a commercial pilot's license when he was 18 years old.

[11][12] Rush believed that undersea exploration was an underserved market, due to, in his opinion, an unwarranted reputation of submersibles as dangerous vehicles.

[17][18][19][20] According to Söhnlein, the company was founded with the intention of creating a small fleet of 5-person commercial submersibles that could be leased by any organization or group of individuals.

The company first included marine biologists as expert guides and, according to Rush, "The difference was night and day.

[23] The following year, Antipodes was used to survey and map the wreckage of the SS Governor, a ship that had sunk in Puget Sound in 1921.

Collaborating with Miami-Dade Artificial Reefs Program, researchers aboard Antipodes investigated the spread of lionfish.

Söhnlein quit the company that same year, saying that OceanGate had transitioned from its initial phase to Rush's specialty of engineering.

[31][32] OceanGate ordered the first titanium components for Cyclops 2 in December 2016,[33] and let a contract to Spencer Composites in January 2017 to design and build the cylindrical carbon fiber hull.

[39] NASA's participation was by a Space Act Agreement intended to further "deep-space exploration goals" and "improve materials and manufacturing for American industry" according to John Vickers.

After a four-day search and rescue operation by an international team led by the United States Coast Guard, U.S. Navy, and Canadian Coast Guard,[43] a debris field was discovered containing parts of Titan, about 500 metres (1,600 ft) from the bow of the Titanic.

[14] Antipodes is a steel-hulled submersible capable of reaching depths of 300 meters (1,000 ft), acquired by OceanGate in 2010.

The submersible was later contracted to expeditions to explore corals, lionfish populations in Florida, and a former oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico.

[9][23][52] In March 2015, OceanGate unveiled the Cyclops 1, a 5-person steel-hulled submersible capable of diving up to 500 meters (1,640 ft) under water.

The submersible is steered by a modified wireless game controller, and the vessel has a battery life of up to eight hours.

OceanGate acquired the steel hull for Cyclops 1 in 2013, after it had been used for 12 years, and fitted it with a new interior, underwater sensors, and gamepad pilot control system.

[33] In 2019 the craft was used to transport researchers to the bottom of Puget Sound to perform marine biology surveys.

Loss of contact had occurred multiple times during previous test and tour dives, so OceanGate did not alert authorities until the submersible was overdue for its return.