Josh Gates, star of the Discovery Channel show “Expedition Unknown, released a series of Tweets about his experience aboard OceanGate’s Titan submarine. The search for the submarine that captivated the world for the last week ended in a terrible catastrophe as the grew and its passengers were announced to have run out of oxygen on Thursday. Now, Gates has shed light on the shortcomings of the vessel that were apparent to him after his voyage.
Gates released his first in a series of Tweets along with a picture of himself aboard the Titan submarine, saying, “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 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
Following that post, many Twitter users began inquiring about Gates’ opinion about the safety of the craft, prompting a statement from the Discovery Channel star. Gates said, “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.”
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
To learn that the sub was so unsafe as to scare away the cast and crew of an extreme adventure show such as “Expedition Unknown” certainly raised eyebrows around the internet. For the team to turn down such an opportunity due to safety concerns,. those concerns must have been massively troublesome.
That doesn’t, however, mean that Gates has trouble understanding why people would take the dangerous trip to the wreckage of the Titanic. He wrote, “To those questioning why people would dive to Titanic: the ship has fascinated the world since the night she sank. It’s a time capsule to another era of our history. It takes courage to make a trip like this.”
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To those questioning why people would dive to Titanic: the ship has fascinated the world since the night she sank. It's a time capsule to another era of our history. It takes courage to make a trip like this. Admiration and prayers for the passengers aboard @OceanGate #Titan.
— Josh Gates (@joshuagates) June 21, 2023
The lost passengers who too the Titan’s final voyage were not all strangers to Gates, who also added a heartfelt prayer for his friend and fellow adventurer, Hamish Harding.
“Expedition Unknown” is a show that chronicles Gates’ quest to unravel and solve some of humanities most iconic mysteries. According to the shows official website, he also goes on excursion in hopes of finding lost cities and buried treasures. This would have made a journey to the wreckage of the Titanic a no-brainer episode if the trip seemed at all feasible to Gates. The fact that even he chose not to film aboard the sub while in pursuit of his life’s passion should be a clear indication that the vessel was not all that it was cracked up to be.
Gates is far from being afraid of entering deep water to shoot his episodes. In one recent episode he was at the bottom of the Great Lakes searching for lost war ships, while in another he searched for flooded cities off the coast of Japan.