What’s it like on the Titanic sub? Ex-passenger recalls trip amid ‘torturous’ wait for news
Global News
'Of course, it's challenging and it's not for the faint of heart. I mean, it's a very dangerous endeavour,' said Alfred Hagen of his own journey aboard the now missing Titan sub.
“Intense worry” is how a former passenger of the missing Titanic submersible describes his feelings as he waits with hope that the five people onboard, including two of his friends, will be found safely.
Alfred Hagen, president of Hagen Construction and Development and a self-described adventurer from Pennsylvania, spoke with Global News about his connection to the ship and recounted his own journey he took into the ocean depths in 2021.
His friends Paul-Henry Nargolet, a French diver considered a world expert on the Titanic, and OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush were on the sub when it went missing Sunday.
“As you can well understand, this isn’t just a story to me, it’s not just people somewhere, these are personal friends,” he said in an interview.
“It’s a horrific story and I know intimately what conditions they’re suffering, the state of the submersible, how cold it is, how tight it is, how uncomfortable. And it pains me deeply to think of them gasping for air as the clock runs out on them.”
The submersible, Titan, was first reported overdue Sunday night, setting off the search in waters about 700 kilometres south of St. John’s, N.L.
The sub had a four-day oxygen supply – about 96 hours – when it was put to sea around 6 a.m. Eastern, according to an adviser to OceanGate Expeditions, which oversaw the mission.
A CBS News journalist, David Pogue, who previously travelled on Titan in 2022 said the vehicle uses text messages back and forth with a surface ship, and safety pings emitted every 15 minutes to indicate the sub is still working.
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