Reporter ‘almost died’ in submarine that got stuck in Titanic wreck

A former TV journalist has said he ‘nearly died’ in a submarine stuck in the wreckage of the Titanic – as the search continues today for five people missing 12,500ft under water .

British billionaire Hamish Harding, Shahzada Dawood, 48, one of Pakistan’s richest men and a board member of the UK-based Prince’s Trust, and his son Sulaiman, 19, are among the group stuck on the tiny underwater craft operated by OceanGate.

As efforts continue to find them before the oxygen runs out, former ABC science editor Michael Guillen has revealed his own terrifying experience in 2000 when he became the first television correspondent to board a submarine to visit the wreck – which lies two and a half miles below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean off Newfoundland.

News footage shared by Dr Guillen told how the ship was suddenly caught in a strong undercurrent that pushed it towards Titanic’s 21-tonne propellers.

After getting stuck under the wreckage of the stern, the crew attempted to reverse – at which point a bang was heard as large chunks of debris floated in the water.

A current pushed the submarine under Titanic’s stern, at which point the crew began to fiddle with the controls to try to reverse it.

“So, are we stuck or what?” a voice can be heard asking in the footage.

The team eventually managed to free the submarine and bring it to the surface, but Dr Guillen said the accident “almost cost my life”.

Dr Guillen was on a submersible called the Mir 1 which was built in 1987.

Writing in his 2021 book Believing is Seeing, Dr Guillen said: ‘It felt like we were heading towards this [the propeller] too fast – and, worse, accelerating.

“Later, I learned that our submarine had accidentally been caught in a deep, fast-moving underwater current. A split second later, Mir 1 slammed into the Titanic’s propeller.

“I felt the shock of the collision: rusty debris slammed into our submersible, obscuring my view through the porthole. »

Dr Guillen said 30 minutes passed and the team was trying to dislodge the vessel by “moving it back and forth, back and forth” to “get us out of our stuck position”.

At this point, he started to think they wouldn’t make it.

But he said he then suddenly felt as though an ‘invisible presence’ had entered the submarine, and ‘shortly afterwards everything quieted down’ before the engine ‘stopped roaring’. and that he felt like they were floating again.

At this point a bang was heard as large pieces of debris were seen floating in the water

“So, are we stuck or what?” a voice can be heard asking in the footage

The team managed to free Mir 1 from the propeller but Dr Guillen admitted that even today he still does not fully understand how he survived the incident.

Dr Guillen, who is a Christian, also wrote how he “experienced the presence and peace of God just when I was resigned to saying goodbye to my life”.

OceanGate’s submersible, The Titan, is now the only five-person submarine in the world capable of reaching the Titanic.

The ship is controlled by a reinforced Playstation controller, although it does not have a GPS system and is guided by text messages sent by a team above the water.

CBS correspondent David Pogue, who traveled aboard one of the submersibles, said it would now be impossible for those inside to escape unaided.

Passengers were sealed inside the main capsule by 17 bolts which were applied from the outside and could only be removed by outside crew, he told the BBC yesterday.

He told The Context that the contraption had seven different functions for him to resurface and that it was “really concerning” that none of them worked.

A graphic showing that the Dr Guillen submarine was getting stuck under the stern of the Titanic

The team eventually managed to free the submarine and bring it to the surface, but Dr Guillen said the accident “almost cost my life”.

He added that these resurfacing capabilities would be irrelevant if the submarine was trapped or caused a leak.

“There’s no backup, there’s no escape pod – she’ll either rise to the surface or die,” Mr Pogue said.

Meanwhile, a writer who made Titanic’s submersible voyage last year said he was “not optimistic” about finding the missing OceanGate craft.

Mike Reiss told BBC Breakfast that communication was also lost during his dive to the Titanic.

Mr Reiss said: “I’m not optimistic just because I know the logistics of it.” And I really know again how vast the ocean is and how tiny the craft is.

He added: “So the idea is that if it’s down there I don’t know how anyone will be able to get to it, let alone get it up.”

“There is hope whether it is on or near the surface. I did three separate dives. I did one dive on the Titanic and two others off New York.

Authorities are searching for OceanGate’s 22ft carbon fiber and titanium vessel called the Titan after it went missing on Sunday

The Boston Coast Guard is now searching for the missing vessel. The wreck of the iconic ship lies 12,500 feet underwater approximately 370 miles from Newfoundland, Canada

Authorities are searching for OceanGate’s 22ft carbon fiber and titanium vessel called the Titan after it went missing on Sunday

“Each time they’ve lost communication and again, it’s not a shoddy ship or anything.”

It is understood that the missing tourist submersible ‘ringed’ for the last time when it was directly above the Titanic.

Stockton Rush, managing director of OceanGate – which organized the trip – would be the fifth crew member.

The submarine is believed to have enough oxygen to remain underwater until 12:00 p.m. Thursday UK time (7:00 a.m. EST).