The CEO of OceanGate Expeditions - the company that operates the missing Titanic submersible - made some chilling words last year before vanishing alongside four other passengers over the weekend.
Search crews are in a desperate race against time, with international rescue efforts intensifying in a bid to locate the missing Titanic submersible, Titan, as its onboard oxygen supply is forecast to deplete today.
According to reports, those onboard the 22-ft long submersible are British billionaire adventurer Hamish Harding, Stockton Rush, OceanGate's founder and CEO, French submersible pilot Paul-Henri Nargeolet, and Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son, Suleman. The group is now being referred to as "The Titan Five".
The Titan's communication with its tour operators was abruptly lost on Sunday, while the vessel was approximately 435 miles south of St John's, Newfoundland. The OceanGate submersible had been on an expedition to the Titanic shipwreck off Canada's coast when it suddenly stopped sending signals back to its launch ship, Polar Prince, around an hour and 45 minutes into its journey.
Last year, Stockton Rush, the 61-year-old founder and CEO of OceanGate Expeditions, spoke on the Unsung Science podcast about the sub and what his fears were. "What I worry about most are things that will stop me from being able to get to the surface. Overhangs, fish nets, entanglement hazards," he said, before insisting that these obstacles were unfortunately hard to avoid.
"And, that's just a technique, piloting technique. It's pretty clear - if it's an overhang, don't go under it. If there is a net, don't go near it. So, you can avoid those if you are just slow and steady," he said.
Rush stated he didn't think diving in a submersible was "very dangerous" at all, suggesting: "I mean, if you just want to be safe, don't get out of bed. Don't get in your car. Don't do anything. At some point, you're going to take some risk, and it really is a risk-reward question. I think I can do this just as safely by breaking the rules."
As more details of the vessel have emerged they have been met with scrutiny from the public. In fact, those boarding the submersible would have had to sign a waiver that stated: "This experimental vessel has not been approved or certified by any regulatory body and could result in physical injury, emotional trauma, or death."
Pogue reported that passengers pay $250,000 to board the sub, which is controlled by a Logitech games controller and comes complete with camping lights inside. Communications with the launch ship are done via text message. "I couldn't help noticing how many pieces of this sub seemed improvised, with off-the-shelf components. Piloting the craft is run with a video game controller," he said.
While Pogue was at sea on the launch ship, another team went down in the sub but were unable to find the Titanic wreck, with passengers later saying they had gotten lost underwater.
