Amid frantic international efforts to locate the lost submarine that explored the Titanic, experts say it's not the first time the deep-diving vessel has suffered serious problems.
A German adventurer who explored the wreckage of the Titanic in the same submersible that disappeared called the trip a "suicide mission."
"I was incredibly lucky back then," Arthur Loibl, 60, told German news outlet Bild of his spooky water adventure.
Arthur Loibl, 60, was in 2021 in the missing submarine.
He undertook the perilous underwater odyssey in August 2021, diving more than 3,000 meters deep into the now-infamous Titan submersible.
Also accompanying him on the descent, which cost Loibl nearly $110,000, were French Titanic expert Paul-Henry Nargeolet, 73, and OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, 61, CEO and founder of submarine company OceanGate.
"It was a suicide mission!" exclaimed the German businessman, recalling his own journey into the abyss. "The first submarine didn't work, then we had to abandon a dive at 1,600 meters."
The German businessman, right, aboard the submarine in 2021.
Loibl explained that they ended up setting sail five hours late due to electrical problems, which he suspects is the cause of the current situation of the Titan's crew.
Not only that, but just before the trip, the stabilization tube support — which balances the submarine — broke and had to be "re-tied with flanges," he said.
Arthur Loibl, 60, before getting on the submarine in 2021.
Unfortunately, the overcrowded conditions aboard the Titan were not exactly reassuring.
"You need nerves of steel, you don't need to be claustrophobic and you have to be able to sit cross-legged for ten hours," described the aquaut, who was able to see the wreckage of the Titanic twice on the Titan.
During one of the dives, he even touched the ill-fated cruise.
As such, he prays for the safe return of all parties aboard the sunken submarine. "It must be hell. There is only 2.50 meters of space, it is four degrees, there is no chair or toilet," Loibl describes.
The four passengers of the Titan submarine are still missing.
Terrifying outcome
What seemed to be an adventurous trip to observe the wreckage of the Titanic, keeps the world on edge. The Titan submarine disappeared on June 19 with five people on board, including the owner of OceanGate, in charge of the trip.
Rescue teams have been multiplying efforts to find a submersible, which disappeared in the Atlantic Ocean on its way to explore the remains of the Titanic, in a desperate search. And, since the ship disappeared, there were only 96 hours of oxygen left.
Communication with the submersible Titan, 6.5 meters long, was lost on Sunday, June 19, during its descent towards the remains of the mythical transatlantic, which are almost 4,000 meters deep in the middle of the North Atlantic.