Is OceanGate really hiring new pilot after Titan tragedy?

A job posting from OceanGate, the owner of the submarine that imploded in the North Atlantic, has been attacked on social media, leading some users to believe it was posted after the accident in June 2023.

A screenshot of the job description was shared on June 24 by a Facebook page with more than 1.8 million followers.

The Titan submersible, which experienced a "catastrophic implosion" during a dive to the Titanic wreck, was operated by OceanGate Expeditions, which has an "immediate opening" for a submersible pilot and marine technician.

"Well, it hasn’t even been one week," reads the Facebook post, which has more than 1,900 shares, in an apparent reference to the disaster in which five people died, including OceanGate's CEO, Stockton Rush.

However, following the tragedy, no job posting was made. In reality, it had been disseminated for at least three years before the incident.

According to OceanGate, after the incident, operations were put on hold. As of July 5, 2023, its website has been taken down and is still unavailable.

The business has been the target of growing criticism, including claims that it disregarded safety alerts made by Titanic director James Cameron. 

The Manned Underwater Vehicles Committee, a non-profit industry organisation, also stated that OceanGate was "unwilling" to go through a typical certification procedure for the Titan submersible.

Guillermo Soehnlein, who started OceanGate with Rush in 2009 before leaving the company in 2013, said his late friend was "extremely committed to safety".

The misinterpretation of the ad

The job ad circulated widely on Twitter, TikTok, and Facebook pages around the world, including in the US, the Philippines, and Australia.

Various news outlets also reported on the job ad, including Business Insider, TMZ and Seven News in Australia. The reports said it was "unclear" when the ad was first published.

However, some social media users appeared to believe OceanGate published the job description shortly after the implosion.

"Really distasteful but are we shocked?!" one Facebook user commented.

"They posted this job opportunity when they were carrying out the search for the missing sub," another wrote. "What were they thinking? Who pressed the button? So many questions."

OceanGate's services remain unavailable

There was no trace of the job ad on OceanGate's website as it went offline following the submersible accident.

A representative for the company stated on July 1 that it had "suspended all exploration and commercial operations".

The Port of Everett in Washington, where OceanGate operates as a tenant, tweeted on June 22 that the firm was "closed indefinitely while the staff copes with the tragic loss of their team member".

A search on Wayback Machine — a site that archives webpages — found the job ad was published on OceanGate's website as early as August 3, 2020.

Additionally, traces of the ad were found on OceanGate's website in 2021, 2022, and June 22, 2023, when debris from the sub was found.

The earliest Facebook post suggesting the job ad was published after the implosion appears to be from US-based comedian Nick Tigges.