The now-missing CEO of OceanGate who is onboard the submersible that travelled to see the Titanic wreck previously described the "critical" warning
Stockton Rush, the 61-year-old CEO of OceanGate Expeditions, is missing along with British billionaire Hamish Harding, French Titanic expert Paul-Henry Nargeolet and Shahzada Dawood, a UK-based board member of the Prince's Trust charity, along with his son Sulaiman Dawood.
It comes as more noises have been heard in the search for the missing Titanic sub, the US Coast Guard announced today.
Capt Jamie Frederick says they still don't know what the noises are - but teams are looking - and the search has been expanded - the area is now twice the size of the US state of Connecticut, and the sub-surface search is 2.5 miles deep
The vessel had not been heard from since early Sunday morning, and officials fear those on board now have less than 20 hours of oxygen left.
In the undated Zoom interview with Teledyne Marine, Rush was asked about the challenges of trying to navigate in deep water in the submersible with no sensors - and how you need to receive a critical notification.
He said: "As you're descending, we have your depth and altitude, you know, distance off the bottom - and that is pretty critical, when you get close to the bottom, you have to get ready to drop some weight so you don't go crashing into it or thrust.
"So getting that notification 200-metres above from the bottom, that is critical."
Still, Rush continued to say in interviews that his ship was safe.
In an interview last year, Rush insisted that travellers onboard the Titan would be safe and had the oxygen necessary to survive.
'I don’t think it’s very dangerous. If you look at submersible activity over the last three decades, there hasn’t even been a major injury, let alone a fatality,' Rush told CBS News.
'What worries us is not once you’re underwater. What worries me is when I’m getting you there, when you’re on the ship in icy states with big doors that can crush your hands and people who may not have the best balance who fall down, bang their head. That’s, to me, the dangerous part,' he added.
A spokesman for the mothership which launched the missing submersible has defended OceanGate, saying it runs an “extremely safe operation”.
Questions were raised about the safety of the vessel, called Titan and run by OceanGate, during a press conference in Canada on Wednesday.
Five people are on board the submersible, which went missing on Sunday off the coast of Canada during a voyage to the wreck of the Titanic, and there is thought to be less than 20 hours of oxygen left.
Sean Leet, co-founder and chairman of Horizon Maritime Services, which owns the Polar Prince mothership from which Titan launched, said: “OceanGate runs an extremely safe operation.
“Our full focus right now is getting that submersible located and getting those people brought back safely.”
He added: “We’re in constant contact with the crew of the Polar Prince.
“Our emergency procedures kicked in immediately.
“Our emergency room is staffed 24/7 with a group of extremely capable people and there’s live communication with the vessel at all times.
“We’ve got 17 people on board the ship.”
The vessel lost communication with tour operators on Sunday while about 435 miles south of St John’s, Newfoundland, during a voyage to the Titanic shipwreck.
Mr Leet praised how quickly specialist marine craft have been scrambled to help in the search for the missing vessel.
He said: “I’ve been in the marine industry since a very young age and I’ve never seen equipment of that nature move that quickly.
“The response from the US Coast Guard, the US military, the folks at the airport, the people here – various companies were involved in the mobilisation, it was done flawlessly.”
Mr Leet added: “The marine industry in this region is no stranger to responding to difficult incidents, we work together to ensure every possible effort is put into bringing people home.
“The people on board Titan and their families are our focus, we care deeply about their wellbeing, all of us here in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, the United States and around the world are unified in this work.”
He added: “It has been a very difficult few days for the crew and families of those on board the Titan and the Polar Prince.
“The Polar Prince captain and crew have been steadfast in providing support during this very difficult time.”
Mr Leet also said they are “very aware of the time sensitivity around this mission”.
And he said some of the equipment at the site of the search for the missing Titan vessel is “certainly capable of reaching those depths” where Titan is presumed to be.
