FILE - This undated photo provided by OceanGate Expeditions in June 2021 shows the company's Titan submersible. Photo / OceanGate Expeditions via AP, File
FILE - This undated photo provided by OceanGate Expeditions in June 2021 shows the company's Titan submersible. Photo / OceanGate Expeditions via AP, File
A German adventurer who went to the site of the Titanic wreck two years ago on the missing Titan submersible has described the voyage as a “suicide mission”.
According to the German outlet Bild, Arthur Loibl, 60, said he felt “incredibly lucky” to survive his visit to the Atlantic wreck site in 2021.
“It was a suicide mission back then,” said Loibl, who said that on his first voyage, the sub didn’t work and that there were “electrical problems”.
His comments came as passengers disclosed details of previous voyages by OceanGate’s tiny sub, describing how it frequently lost contact with the surface.
A deep-sea rescue mission is under way for five people on board the missing craft, which had submerged to explore the wreckage of the Titanic.
The submersible went missing on Sunday morning, less than two hours into its expedition to the wreck, which lies more than two miles below the surface of the North Atlantic.
Recounting his journey to the wreck, Loibl said: “The first submarine didn’t work, then a dive at 1600 metres had to be abandoned.
“My mission was the fifth, but we also went into the water five hours late due to electrical problems.”
Prior to the launch of the sub, Loibl said the bracket of the stabilisation tube – used to provide balance as the craft descends into the depths – fell off the vessel.
But, he added: “That was reattached with zip ties. That didn’t worry me.”
It comes amid reports that Rush was reportedly warned by leaders in the submersible industry that the company’s “experimental approach” could result in problems “from minor to catastrophic”.
The caution came in a 2018 letter to the OceanGate CEO obtained by the New York Times.
A retired rear admiral in the Royal Navy questioned why anyone would get into a “dodgy piece of technology” like the Titan.
During an interview with LBC, Chris Parr said: “Why on earth you would go in a dodgy piece of technology where you actually have to sign away any right to sue the company for emotional damage, injury and death is beyond me.
“It is fundamentally dangerous, there was no backup plan, it’s experimental and I’m afraid to say there’s an element of hubris if you want to go down and do that.”
He added that without an emitting signal from the Titan, it would be “impossible” to find it in the timescale, with the submersible having just 30 hours of oxygen left.
He said: “I’m afraid the odds are vanishingly small.”
“Obviously, we want to remain hopeful and optimistic but there are two problems here – one is actually finding the thing and second, is how on earth are you going to get it off the seabed. It’s never been done before and I don’t think anybody’s got any ideas about how to do it at the moment.”
