Titan trip was ‘suicide mission’, says explorer

Arthur Loibl, 60, embarked on the daring voyage in 2021 with Titanic expert Paul-Henry Nargeolet and OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush – who are both trapped on the missing vessel.

He paid out almost £90,000 ($169,000) for the trip – but before the sub even started its descent the team ran into issues, The Sun reported.

Mr Loibl said the first sub “didn’t work” before their vessel eventually went into the water five hours later than scheduled due to electrical problems.

But just before it was set to launch, he told how the bracket of the stabilisation tube – designed to balance the sub – tore and it was reattached with zip ties.

He told Bild: “It was a suicide mission back then.”

Mr Loibl said they were forced to sit cross-legged on the cramped sub for ten hours.

He said he is hoping for a miracle for the crew members stuck on the stricken sub.

The German adventurer added: “It must be hell down there. There’s only 2.5m (8ft) of space, it’s four degrees, there’s no chair.

“I feel bad, I’m nervous, I have a sinking feeling in my stomach. I was incredibly lucky back then.”

Mr Loibl said the Titanic dive was the “most extreme” expedition he had ever taken on, having visited both the North and South Poles and flown over Russia in a fighter jet.

Guests and journalists who risked their lives to make the trip told of radio failures, flickering lights and being at the mercy of deep sea currents.

One Brit who signed up for a dive in the missing Titanic sub pulled out — questioning if the firm running it was “cutting too many corners”.

Thrill-seeker Chris Brown, 61, paid a deposit for the mission to the wreck along with pal Hamish Harding, 58, who is on the missing sub.

But he found its controls were “based on computer game-style controllers”.

Chris dropped out after becoming concerned by the quality of technology and materials used by OceanGate Expeditions.

Meanwhile, reporter Martin Phillips told of the perilous journey he had when he made the trip for The Sun in 2001.

He recalled how they were told just the “tiniest of things going awry” could see them cut in two by a powerful jet of water or crushed under the weight of the Atlantic Ocean.

Martin added: “I vividly recall how trepidation and claustrophobia battled with a rising sense of excitement as the hatch was slammed shut and we bobbed nauseatingly on the surface waiting to descend to the inky depths below.”

He was accompanied by Sun reader Peter Bailey, who won a competition to go on the expedition.

Peter, now 59, of Matlock, Derbys, is praying that the crew of the missing tourist sub the Titan are found safe and well.

Earlier he said: “It doesn’t bear thinking about. I remember my trip with Martin very vividly.

“We were aware of the dangers, that the sub could implode and just vaporise, or that we could get trapped.

“In our case there was a way we could eject part of the sub and float to the surface but I don’t think that’s the case with this sub.”

And a writer on The Simpsons has revealed past safety fears and anxieties experienced by travellers on mini-sub trips to see the wreck of the Titanic.

Mike Reiss, who works on the classic US TV animated show, made the trip last year on the sub Titan and said communication failures were common.

He said: “I have taken three different dives with this company, one at the Titanic and two others and you almost always lost communication — and you are at the mercy of weather.”

The vessel is controlled by what passengers have likened to “Xbox controller” — but is, in fact, a handheld remote control made by computer firm Logitch.

Passengers described how the pilot resembled a computer gamer as they used the hand-held pad to move the sub forward, back and up and down.

It comes as crew members trapped on board the missing Titanic submersible are feared to have less than 24 hours of oxygen left.

Rescuers are racing against the clock to find the stricken vessel after banging sounds were detected underwater – raising hopes of a miracle.

A pal of British billionaire Hamish Harding, who is on board the sub, said banging is exactly the tactic his friend would employ if stranded in the depths of the Atlantic.

This story first appeared in The Sun and was reproduced with permission.