OceanGate, the company behind the ill-fated Titanic sub, received more than $450,000 in aid during the Covid pandemic, says a report.
The Washington-based company received $447,000 in loans and the government forgave it $450,074, with interest, reported The Daily Beast.
The Payment Protection Program loans were made through Washington Trust Bank and approved on 10 April 2020 when the company had 22 employees, according to a ProPublica database.
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Debris belonging to OceanGate’s Titan submersible was found by an ROV 1,600ft from the bow of the Titanic, the US Coastguard announced on Thursday.
Officials say that they believe the craft suffered a “catastrophic implosion” during its journey to the seabed.
All five aboard the craft, including OceanGate CEO and founder Stockton Rush, are presumed dead and their bodies have not yet been found.
Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman Dawood were killed along with British billionaire explorer Hamish Harding and renowned French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet.
Each of them had paid around $250,000 to dive down to the wreck of the famed liner in the company’s submersible.
Titan began its journey to the wreck site, which sits at a depth of 12,500ft in the Atlantic Ocean, on Sunday morning.
About an hour and 45 minutes later, the Titan lost contact with its surface ship, the Polar Prince.
Officials say that a Canadian aircraft involved in the search detected intermittent “banging” noises from the vicinity of its last known location.
Search and rescue teams then deployed remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) to the site of the wreck where they found a “debris field” that included parts of the sub’s pressure chamber.
Mr Dawood and his son, who are both British citizens, are part of one of a prominent Pakistani family, with investments in the country’s agriculture and industry sectors.
In a statement, OceanGate Inc said: “Our hearts are with these five souls and every member of their families during this tragic time. We grieve the loss of life and joy they brought to everyone they knew.”
“These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world’s oceans.”
