Explorer and reality TV star Josh Gates says he turned down a chance to film on OceanGate's now-missing Titan submersible after the vessel "did not perform well" during a test dive.
Titan and its five occupants were reported missing on Monday after a surface ship lost contact with the submersible less than two hours into its underwater voyage to the North Atlantic wreckage of the RMS Titanic. A search-and-rescue mission, aided by U.S. and Canadian Coast Guard forces, continued on Wednesday as the vessel's supply of oxygen dwindled.
Gates, the host of Discovery's Expedition Unknown, explained in a series of tweets on Wednesday that he had the "unique opportunity" to join OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush on a test dive while the company was preparing for its initial visit to the Titanic, which occurred in July 2021.
"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," Gates tweeted alongside an image of himself, Rush and camera operator Brian C. Weed inside the sub. "I pray for a positive outcome to the rescue efforts of those aboard, including fellow @ExplorersClub member Hamish Harding."
The explorer then said that he "walked away" from a chance to film at the site of the legendary shipwreck following the test dive, while hinting that the "history and design" of the submersible included "concerning" details that are unknown to the public.
"To those asking, #Titan did not perform well on my dive," tweeted Gates. "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."
Gates went on to stress his "admiration and prayers for the passengers aboard" the submersible, adding that "it takes courage to make a trip like this."
Weed, the director of photography for Expedition Unknown, filled in some details of the Titan test dive in an Instagram post on Monday, writing that he traveled to OceanGate's Everett, Washington, headquarters in May 2021 for a test that took place in the Puget Sound.
"I had a lot of misgivings about the sub after our test dive, and I'm gutted to think about what may have happened," Weed wrote in response to one of the comments on his post.
Weed remarked on the seemingly basic design of the vessel in additional comments, explaining that there was "one button to turn the whole thing on" and "then it's mostly just touch screens and an Xbox 360 controller to operate."
"I remember there was a manual emergency ballast release as well, but it wouldn't surprise me if it has malfunctioned in some way," wrote Weed. "There were several things about the sub that made me feel very uneasy."
A former OceanGate employee previously sued the company over safety concerns about Titan, claiming that the vessel's sole window was only certified to withstand the pressure of 1,300 meters of depth, while the Titanic wreckage is roughly 3,800 meters under the ocean's surface.
Rush was also sent a letter by dozens of experts from the Marine Technology Society in 2018, warning him of the potentially "catastrophic" consequences of his decision to refuse outside testing of the submersible. The CEO reportedly brushed off the concerns as an attempt at "stifling innovation."
Newsweek has reached out to Gates and OceanGate via email for comment.
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