A Winter Park couple who sued the now-deceased OceanGate CEO experienced a blessing in disguise when their excursion to the bottom of the ocean to view the ship-wrecked Titanic was delayed, according to a law school professor.
“I wish they had been more careful now in retrospect,” said Mark J. Sundahl, professor of law and director of the Global Space Law Center at Cleveland State University College of Law.
Sundahl was reacting to the news that Sharon and Marc Hagle sued Titan Submersible pilot Stockton Rush in Orange County's 9th Judicial Circuit alleging fraud in February 2023 before he died last week underwater.
As previously reported in the New York Times, the Titan submersible was missing for days before pieces of it were found on the ocean floor.
The adventure-seeking couple had previously traveled to the edge of space on a Blue Origin flight without any trouble.
Among the allegations against Rush was that the payments the Hagles made towards their ocean excursion were not held in a dedicated client escrow account separate from Rush or Ocean Gate's funds as promised and that Rush had violated Florida's Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices.
“Because this stuff is so expensive, I don't think that they relied that much on deposits or ticket sales, but it could be a component of their financing,” Sundahl told the Florida Record.
The Hagles’ deep sea expedition was canceled and rescheduled on more than one occasion.
“The stated reasons for the cancellation was that Ocean Gate had not had sufficient time to conduct the full series of tests and dives needed to certify the Titan to the depth necessary to reach the Titanic,” wrote Attorney Ronald Edwards in the Hagles' Feb. 15 complaint.
The couple had paid $105,129 believing Rush would take them underwater aboard the Cyclops 2 submersible vessel, according to media reports. The Cyclops 2 submersible was renamed the Titan.
"Plaintiffs were notified that the [June 19, 2019] expedition would now take place at an unidentified time in 2020," the complaint further states. "As a result, the expedition originally scheduled to occur during 2018 would likely not take place until at least two full years later, and that at least approximately two and one-half years after Mr. Hagel and Mrs. Hagel had each paid the full $105,129 per person cost of the excursion."
Space tourism companies like Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin share some of the same challenges as deepsea tourism missions.
Delays are common for such high-priced destinations, according to Sundahl.
"At times, the development of the technology of these ultra-hazardous activities don't feel ready,” he said. “At least, that's been the case for Virgin Galactic and it is perfectly reasonable.”
Edwards did not comment when approached by the Florida Record.