Titanic Tour Sub Vanishing: 6th Crew Member Took His Money Back after Seeing the Craft’s Condition

A submersible that set off in the early hours of Sunday morning has gone missing after diving into the Titanic wreck. The entire exploration is meant to last eight hours, but with no contact with the vessel, those in charge have been left wondering about the safety of those on board.

More vessels have now been sent down to search for the submersible, but there has been no news about where the ship may have gone. Since the news broke, many stories about the journey have come to light.

Now, a friend of a billionaire passenger Hamish Harding, Chris Brown, has come forward and shared some information about the vessel and the journey his friend embarked on on Sunday, June 18.

61-year-old Brown and 58-year-old Harding are friends who both signed up for the journey to the Titanic wreck site. While Harding paid $250,000 for the trip, Brown only paid a deposit and then pulled out.

Brown is a multi-millionaire digital marketing tycoon and said that although he had paid a deposit to go on the trip with his friend, he decided against it after having some concerns with the vessel.

Why Didn't Chris Brown Go On The Expedition?

Brown narrowly escaped the heartbreaking horror simply because he feared the vessel's operations. His primary concern was that a gaming console-like remote control ran the entire craft.

This controller is a Logitech gaming system and is used to maneuver the vessel once it is submerged. However, this was not Brown's only concern. In fact, some structural details worried him, too. He shared:

"I found out they used old scaffolding poles for the sub's ballast … If you're trying to build your own submarine, you could probably use old scaffold poles. But this was a commercial craft."

After deciding he couldn't go on the trip, he emailed OceanGate, the team facilitating the dive, and asked that he be fully refunded. Brown believed that the company was cutting too many corners.

Although Brown was one of the first to sign up for the expedition, he quickly became fearful as the "risks were too high." He added that he was very upset about Harding being on the vessel.

The vessel lost contact an hour and forty-five minutes into the dive on Sunday morning, and there has been no communication from the team since then. Ninety-six hours' worth of oxygen was available for those onboard at the beginning of the expedition. Now, a search and rescue team is frantically trying to find the vessel before the oxygen runs out.

While Brown understands his friend's precarious situation, he confirms that Harding is not one to panic. He is most likely keeping calm aboard the vessel and trying to think of solutions for everyone involved.

Brown also believes Harding will be "giving hope" to the other passengers, encouraging them to remain positive. OceanGate has been leading these expeditions since 2021, but with unfavorable weather conditions forecast, this will likely be their only trip in 2023.