Host of the television show “Expedition Unknown,” Josh Gates, took a diving trip in the same OceanGate submarine that recently disappeared while attempting to explore the Titanic. Reportedly, the host of the Discovery Channel show refused to take a second dive in the submersible, citing safety concerns that are not yet known to the public.
Josh Gates claimed the vessel, known as the Titan, “did not perform well” during his underwater voyage. This led the renowned explorer to forego a second opportunity to return to the Titanic and film for his show. Gates posted in a tweet, “I had the unique opportunity to dive in the @Oceangate #Titan sub with Stockton at the helm in preparation for its maiden mission to Titanic. I pray for a positive outcome to the rescue efforts of those aboard, including fellow @ExplorersClubmember Hamish Harding.”
I had the unique opportunity to dive in the @Oceangate #Titan sub with Stockton at the helm in preparation for its maiden mission to Titanic. I pray for a positive outcome to the rescue efforts of those aboard, including fellow @ExplorersClub member Hamish Harding. pic.twitter.com/z6jjLf6tO6
— Josh Gates (@joshuagates) June 21, 2023
Gates offered words of hope for CEO Stockton Rush and those who were also onboard the vessel. Gates also posted a follow-up tweet, clarifying the purported safety concerns which prevented him from making a second trip to the famous wreckage. “To those asking, #Titan did not perform well on my dive. Ultimately, I walked away from a huge opportunity to film Titanic due to my safety concerns w/ the @OceanGateplatform. There’s more to the history and design of Titan that has not been made public – much of it concerning,” Gates tweeted.
To those asking, #Titan did not perform well on my dive. Ultimately, I walked away from a huge opportunity to film Titanic due to my safety concerns w/ the @OceanGate platform. There's more to the history and design of Titan that has not been made public – much of it concerning.
— Josh Gates (@joshuagates) June 21, 2023
As Gates alleges in his tweet, there is “concerning” non-public information regarding the safety and integrity of the Titan vessel. A Twitter user replied to Gates’ tweet alleging, “No GPS. No homing beacon. Reliant on Muskrat’s Starlink for communication. No tether to mother ship. No backup plan whatsoever for survival. Dude used a gamepad to steer the thing. What could possibly go wrong?”
The submersible disappeared on Sunday while en route to the remains of the Titanic wreckage. Five people were on board the vessel at the time, including OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, billionaire Hamish Harding, British businessman Sahzada Dawood and his son, and Titanic researcher Paul-Henri Nargeolet. The sub’s disappearance prompted a frantic search and rescue mission to locate the individuals.
After the disappearance, past comments from Stockton Rush resurfaced, indicating the CEO didn’t want to hire “50-year-old white guys” to pilot the submersibles. “When I started the business, one of the things you’ll find, there are other sub operators out there, but they typically have gentlemen who are ex-military sub-mariners, and they — you’ll see a whole bunch of 50-year-old white guys,” he said.
The OceanGate leader further explained his desire for younger team members with diverse backgrounds to be “inspirational.” “I wanted our team to be younger, to be inspirational. And I’m not going to inspire a 16-year-old to go pursue marine technology, but a 25-year-old who’s a sub pilot or a platform operator, one of our techs, can be inspirational. So we’ve really tried to get very intelligent, motivated, younger individuals involved because we’re doing things that are completely new.”
Taking these comments into consideration, many have questioned whether hiring less-competent team members possibly played a role in the submarine’s fate. See some of the latest reporting on the ill-fated Titan sub below.
Note: Featured image is a screenshot from the embedded video.
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