The former Director of Administration at OceanGate shed some light on the role of “mission specialists”—as the company titled paying customers on their expeditions to the ocean floor.
Amber Bay responded to questions at the U.S. Coast Guard hearings into the Titan disaster surrounding how people were paid, and how mission specialists were viewed, not as passengers, but as part of the crew.
Bay was asked whether mission specialists would qualify for worker’s compensation if they got hurt, “no, they would not,” answered Bay. She says mission specialists didn’t get health benefits from OceanGate and payroll taxes weren’t collected either.
Bay broke down in tears as she recounted the impact the loss of the crew and passengers of the Titan has had on the families, OceanGate employees and herself.
“I had the privilege of knowing the explorers whose lives were lost, Stockton, PH, Shahzada, Suleman, and Hamish,” she said choking back tears, “and there’s not a day that passes that we don’t think of them, their families and their loss. It’s been a difficult year for them, and for all of us.”