OceanGate Expeditions said it is suspending “all exploration and commercial operations” after five people were killed — including the company’s CEO Stockton Rush — during a deep-sea expedition to the wreckage of the Titanic.

A notice announcing the suspension of services appeared in red letters in the top corner of the company’s website on Thursday.

It comes two weeks after desperate efforts to locate OceanGate’s missing submersible, nicknamed the Titan, culminated in tragedy. The 22-foot carbon-fiber and titanium craft vanished shortly after it dipped beneath the waters of the Atlantic Ocean on June 18. It lost contact with the Polar Prince, the support ship that transported the vessel to the site, about 1 hour and 45 minutes into its descent.

The submersible’s disappearance sparked a massive search effort, spanning multiple agencies from around the world. It covered an area twice the size of Connecticut and included a series of ships, helicopters and drones, all of them racing to locate the missing vessel before those onboard ran out of oxygen.

A remote-operated vehicle, or ROV, later discovered the tail cone of the Titan about 1,600 feet from the bow of the Titanic on June 22. It was among five major pieces of debris belonging to the missing underwater vessel found on the ocean floor.

The U.S. Coast Guard later revealed the debris had been consistent with “a catastrophic implosion,” the cause of which remains under investigation by officials in both the United States and Canada. The scraps recovered from the bottom of the ocean also contained “presumed human remains,” the agency said last week.

Prominent Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman Dawood, British billionaire Hamish Harding and Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet all died on the sub alongside Rush.

The deep-sea dive was part of an eight-day journey conducted by OceanGate Expeditions, with those onboard shelling out some $250,000 for a seat.

Founded in 2009, the Everett, Wash.-based company offered tourists the opportunity to travel on submersibles into the ocean’s depths for a closeup look at shipwrecks and underwater canyons.

Despite the recent tragedy, the adventure company continued to advertise voyages to the Titanic, located roughly 12,500 feet beneath the Atlantic, in the days after the Titan’s failed journey. As of last week, it still had two missions scheduled for June 2024 listed on its website.

“You will learn everything you need to know for your dive onboard the expedition vessel, and we will help you prepare before you join us on the ship,” the website explained under a frequently asked questions section. “It is helpful to have a sturdy pair of sea legs, but even if the extent of your life on the water is only snorkeling in 20 feet of water, we will be happy to welcome you aboard.”

With News Wire Services