OceanGate job listing for submersible pilot was posted years ago, not new | Fact check

BrieAnna J. Frank, USA TODAY
·3 min read
2

The claim: Post implies OceanGate posted a job for a submersible pilot after vessel went missing

A June 22 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) features a screenshot of a job listing for a "submersible pilot/marine technician" from the underwater tourism company OceanGate. The post was shared after one of the company's Titan submersibles imploded on June 18 – killing all five passengers on board.

“Remember when everyone was saying ‘Don’t kill yourself for a job that would replace you within two weeks?’” reads the post. “Well it hasn’t even been one week.”

One of the comments described the supposed job listing as “incredibly tasteless.”

It was shared more than 80,000 times in less than a week. Other versions of the claim were shared thousands of additional times.

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Our rating: Missing context

The implied claim here is wrong. The job listing has been on the OceanGate website since at least June 2020, several years before the Titan submersible went missing.

Job posting dates back to at least June 2020, remained online during search and rescue operation

OceanGate’s Titan submersible went missing shortly after descending toward the Titanic wreckage, as reported by USA TODAY. After days of a widely-publicized search, crews found debris from the vessel’s exterior on the ocean floor and determined a “catastrophic implosion” occurred that killed all passengers on board.

But this posting wasn't made after the submersible went missing or anytime recently.

Archived versions of the listing show it was active on the company's employment page as early as June 2020, and remained up days after the Titan submersible went missing.

The listing describes an “immediate opening” for a submersible pilot and marine technician to “manage and operate our fleet of manned submersibles and support vessels.” Among the job requirements listed are the ability to work in a confined space, experience with operating submersible vehicles and a “good sense of humor.”

The incident came years after the company was first warned of potential safety issues with the submersible and the potentially “catastrophic” effects of opting out of typical industry testing, the New York Times reported.

Fact check: False claim Titan passenger was the vice chairman of the World Economic Forum

OceanGate identified the passengers in a June 22 tweet and described the incident as an “extremely sad time for our dedicated employees who are exhausted and grieving deeply over this loss.”

This photo provided by OceanGate Expeditions shows a submersible vessel named Titan used to visit the wreckage site of the Titanic. In a race against the clock on the high seas, an expanding international armada of ships and airplanes searched Tuesday, June 20, 2023, for the submersible that vanished in the North Atlantic while taking five people down to the wreck of the Titanic. (OceanGate Expeditions via AP) ORG XMIT: NYPS209

USA TODAY previously debunked a claim that the submersible was found without its passengers inside.

USA TODAY reached out to OceanGate and users who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: OceanGate job listing was active years before implosion | Fact check