A job posting for a marine pilot from OceanGate Expeditions has gone viral and is receiving a lot of backlash on social media after a submersible owned by the company imploded en route to see the Titanic’s wreckage in the Atlantic Ocean on June 18, killing five people onboard.
Many people on Twitter and Facebook circulated a job posting presumably from OceanGate which included a screenshot of the company’s website, announcing a vacancy for the position of “Submersible Pilot/Marine Technician”. Many people online claimed that the vacancy announcement was posted a day after the debris of the submersible was discovered and the world was still reeling from the deaths of the Titan Five.
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The notice read, “The management of OceanGate, Inc. has an immediate opening for a Sub Pilot/Marine Technician to help manage and operate our fleet of manned submersibles and support vessels. We are looking for a committed and competent individual with combination of strong mechanical and interpersonal skills who can work on sensitive marine equipment, perform regular maintenance and operate complex systems to support dive operations (this is not an ocean sciences or marine.”
Needless to say, the post received a lot of backlash online. Most of the people who came across the posting discouraged others to apply for the role.
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Here are some of the reactions online:
However, it is wholly likely that the job posting is from before the recent tragedy unfolded for the entire world to see because OceanGate’s website was shut down the day the debris of the missing submersible was found and the US Coast Guard declared that everyone onboard was being presumed dead as the debris were consistent with submersible imploding underwater, way before it had the chance to reach the ruins of the Titanic.
An archived version of the company’s website suggested that it was last live on June 22, four days after the vessel went missing. Furthermore, archived versions of the webpage were seen to contain the same job post from August 2020 to May 2023. This made it clear that the job post did not go out from OceanGate after the five passengers, which also included their CEO, Stockton Rush, died in the terrible tragedy.