Rhiannon Ingle
A father and son who pulled out of the doomed Titan sub trip are now 'haunted' by images of the duo who replaced them.
The vessel disappeared just two hours into a trip to explore the wreckage of the Titanic on 18 June, leading to an almost week-long mission to recover the Titan and those on board.
But it was later confirmed that the submersible had suffered a catastrophic implosion, killing all five passengers on board.
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The passengers on board at the time have been identified as, OceanGate CEO and co-founder Stockton Rush, British billionaire Hamish Harding, French diver and Titanic expert Paul-Henry Nargeolet, and father and son Shahzada and Suleman Dawood.
In a statement addressing the situation, OceanGate said: "We now believe that our CEO Stockton Rush, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood, Hamish Harding, and Paul-Henri Nargeolet, have sadly been lost.
"These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world’s oceans.
"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.
"This is an extremely sad time for our dedicated employees who are exhausted and grieving deeply over this loss."
And now, investor Jay Bloom, from Las Vegas has since come forward following the ordeal and revealed he turned down a pair of tickets for him and his son to go on that very same submersible trip - but pulled out over safety concerns.
He has since told The New York Post he is now 'haunted' by photos of the late father-son duo that went instead.
Bloom claimed Rush offered him a 'last-minute price' of $150,000 per person, which is quite a discount from the full price ticket weighing in at $250,000 a seat.
"This is all over the news, and I’m seeing three pictures of individuals and the fourth picture of a father and son," he said.
"When I look at that picture of the father and son, it’s eerily similar to the pictures I have with my son," Bloom added. "Very haunting."
The investor went on to disclose it felt 'really weird' to see pictures of the father-son pair broadcasted across the news, adding: "One decision, that would have been our picture."
Since the tragic incident, Bloom told the outlet 'tomorrow is never promised'.
Elsewhere in his interview with The Post, Bloom recalled the very moment Rush came to him with the Titanic trip proposal.
Rush allegedly told him: "Less than 200 people have been to the dive site. More people have been to space than down to the Titanic."
Bloom said: "Initially, there was a lot of excitement about the opportunity."
He went on to explain his son was 'a huge fan of the Titanic and its story ever since he was a little kid', before adding: "I thought it was an amazing opportunity to give him a once-in-a-lifetime experience."
However, the father soon had suspicions the trip 'was not such a good idea'.
He said Rush had the mentality 'that his industry is extremely over-engineered and in the name of safety, a lot of money is being wasted'.
One particular safety concern was over the Titan sub's viewing window, which was reportedly only approved to reach depths of about 4,900 feet while the wreckage of the Titanic site lies at a depth of 12,500 feet.
According to Bloom, Rush didn't amend the window to fit regulations because it was 'too expensive' adding: "That’s how he approached everything. You can take risks, but they should be calculated risks. Stockton - the more I learned - was just reckless."