A B.C. businessman and philanthropist is speaking out about his experience with OceanGate — the company whose submersible went missing during a mission to view the Titanic shipwreck Sunday.
Ron Toigo said during his first trip on the vessel they also got stuck at the bottom of the ocean.“You still felt pretty safe, though,” he said.
The carbon-fibre and titanium vessel called the Titan has diving capabilities of more than 13,000 feet and can carry five people to the Titanic wreck in the Atlantic Ocean. It had run successful trips to the site in 2021 and 2022, according to the company’s website.
Five people are reported to be onboard Titan, and the submersible had a 96-hour oxygen supply when it was put to sea at roughly 6 a.m. Sunday, according to David Concannon, an adviser to OceanGate. Theoretically, that supply should last until Thursday afternoon, eastern time.
Toigo said he appreciated how many safety precautions were taken before the expedition got underway.
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“You spend your first number of days there really going over everything that could go wrong and how you’re supposed to respond and being prepared for whatever happens,” he said.
“You’re really set up for five or six days if you had to stay at the bottom until they had to come and get you with a Navy sub or something.”
Toigo said he never felt unsafe at any time during his voyage.
“I honestly believe that they’re going to be fine,” he added.
Canadian research icebreaker Polar Prince, which was supporting the Titan, reportedly lost contact with the vessel roughly an hour and 45 minutes after it submerged.
What caused it to lose contact with the Polar Prince is not clear.
Toigo said he remembers there being at least four different communication systems onboard the submersible and he is hoping for the best.
“I feel sick for their families because, you know, a lot of them got young kids at home and they’re wondering,” he added. “And the anxiety is, I can’t imagine. But knowing what I know, I feel pretty confident that this is going to come to a good conclusion. It’s just a matter of when.”
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