A former passenger of the Titan submersible, which recently went missing with five people on board, including the CEO of OceanGate Expeditions, has revealed communication issues during his own dives with the submersible.

The passenger, Mike Reiss, took four dives in the Titan, including one to the Titanic shipwreck. He stated that communication was lost on every dive, albeit briefly, and attributed it to the challenges of deep-water communication rather than solely blaming the submersible itself.

The Titan submersible lost communication with its surface vessel less than two hours into the dive on Sunday, leading to a search operation by the US Coast Guard. It is believed that the five people on board are deceased, and debris found near the Titanic wreck site is believed to be from the missing vessel.

The Titan relied on the surface ship for navigation as GPS is not viable at depths of 13,000 feet underwater. The surface vessel sent text messages to the submersible occupants, who used a video-game controller to navigate based on the instructions received.

Despite safety concerns and scrutiny surrounding OceanGate and the Titan, Reiss, who took the same voyage last year, defended the company's approach, stating that they take safety seriously. He acknowledged the inherent risks associated with deep-water exploration and mentioned signing a waiver that mentioned the possibility of death multiple times.

The search for the missing submersible and its occupants was ongoing, with debris being discovered on the ocean floor.

https://www.insider.com/former-titan-passenger-sub-lost-communication-surface-ship-every-time-2023-6