Yacht broker Steve Reoch has been trying to sell a submersible belonging to OceanGate for five years, and he wants the vessel off his hands.
“I don’t want to have anything to do with it,” Reoch told Business Insider.
After dealing with fake and flakey buyers for years, Reoch fears that no one will want to purchase a sub associated with OceanGate following the Titanic submarine implosion killing five people, including OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush. The company has since shut down operations.
Watch: Wreckage of Lost OceanGate Titan Submersible Recovered
Allison King / VOCM News / LOCAL NEWS X /TMX“We’re in the process of disassociating ourselves from the vessel because it won’t sell,” Reoch told Insider. “Nobody’s going to be able to sell the submersible for years because of litigation — it’s a waste of my time and has been for five years.”
The OceanGate Antipodes sub was listed for sale at $795,000. It was built in 1973 by Perry Submersibles and went through a few owners before being the first submersible purchased by Rush for Ocean Gate.
Stockton Rush, CEO and Co-Founder of OceanGate Inc., opens the hatch on the company’s submersible “Antipodes” about three miles off the coast of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on June 28, 2013. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
Unlike the Titan sub, the Antipodes met industry standards set by the American Bureau of Shipping. The sub is 13 ½ feet and can go 1,000 feet deep into the ocean — not even ten percent of the distance to the Titanic shipwreck site.
“Antipodes is a deep sea manned submersible with proven experience and an excellent safety record,” according to OceanGate’s website. “With six individual 5HP electric thrusters, Antipodes is highly maneuverable at depth and extremely comfortable for pilot and up to four crew.”
Rush took the Antipodes on multiple trips, including a shark-spotting trip with rapper Macklemore.
He contracted Reoch to sell the sub after he began building his second submersible, the Cyclops. Reoch did not have much luck and has never sold a submersible.
The Antipodes is currently at OceanGate’s headquarters in Washington State.
