Why U.S. investor Jay Bloom turned down seats on the doomed Titanic submersible

FILE PHOTO: The Titan submersible, operated by OceanGate Expeditions to explore the wreckage of the sunken SS Titanic off the coast of Newfoundland, dives in an undated photograph. OceanGate Expeditions/Handout via REUTERS/ File Photo

(Reuters) - For a year, Stockton Rush had tried to convince Las Vegas-based investor Jay Bloom to buy a couple of spots on his company's submersible so Bloom and his son could experience the once-in-a-lifetime thrill of visiting the deep-sea wreck of the Titanic.

Bloom was intrigued, he said in an interview on Friday. His son Sean, now 20, had been fascinated by the story of the doomed British passenger liner as a child.