A passenger on a submarine to the Titanic

The “Titan” was not the first submarine to dive into the wreck of the Titanic. A 50-year-old man reports on his experiences with OceanGate.

MUNICH – After the “Titan” accident, many debates have erupted about the safety of tourist submarines. The main critic was Stockton Rush, CEO of OceanGate. He underestimated the safety risks and avoided certifying the “Titan” despite pressure from submarine experts. Now a Titanic enthusiast is sharing his experience of diving the wreck with OceanGate.

Already in 2021, there was a passenger with the Oceangate submarine during the Titanic disaster.

Starting in 2021, OceanGate will pay to take customers to explore the wreck of the Titanic. In July 2022, 50-year-old Renata Rojas made the trip with four people — a pilot, a scientist and two civilians. He told the British newspaper that Rojas’ decades-long dream had come true The Independent Explained: “When I was 12, I wanted to find the Titanic.”

According to Titanic fans, the OceanGate submarine went down very quickly and easily. “Everything somehow flies past the window. But we did a little experiment — we turned the lights off and on again to see how life outside the submarine works,” Rojas said in the interview.

OceanGate’s submarine dives are said to be nothing more than tourist attractions

Although she was not a submarine expert, all passengers were required to lend a hand when disembarking. “The deeper we got, the more help the captain needed,” he explains. This is because when landing, some devices must be activated to slow down and avoid hitting the bottom.

When it came to the wreck, it was like being in a movie for Rojas: a magical bow suddenly appeared from the depths. Although the sea ice made it difficult to see, it took its toll on her. It is said that this dive is nothing but tourism. Already on the way down, the team collected water from different levels to collect data on different species. While wrecked, they were tasked with collecting sediment from several sides of the Titanic.

German passenger thinks it’s “crazy” to dive on Oceangate submarine

The dive was complicated and a lot of work, the 50-year-old recalls. Still, the 50-year-old doesn’t seem to have felt unsafe before or during OceanGate’s submarine ride — at least he didn’t say anything like that in the interview. The Independent.

On the other hand, 60-year-old German Arthur Loebhill made a less positive statement in an interview with Bavarian radio. He was also part of the Titanic expedition with the Oceangate submersible. Loibl Dive paid more than 100,000 euros and contractually waived all liability claims against OceanGate in the event of an accident.

From today’s perspective, he will never dive again. In retrospect, it was “absolutely insane” – a “suicide mission”. There were already problems with the lowering: a stabilization tube broke, which led to welding from the outside while the passengers were already in the submarine.