Titan operators made it clear 'you can die' on trip, says Vancouver businessman who rode vessel multiple times

Ron Toigo understood he was risking his life each time he went on the Titan.

The B.C. businessman has spent almost 40 hours on the Titan over two trips and two test runs.  

The submersible, operated by privately-owned company OceanGate Expeditions, was about one hour and 45 minutes into its dive off the coast of Newfoundland Sunday morning when contact was lost. 

It has sparked a multi-national search and rescue mission over the past four days. But the vessel's estimated oxygen clock ran out Thursday morning, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

On Thursday, the coast guard confirmed it had found wreckage from the submersible near the Titanic and all five men aboard are considered lost at sea.

Toigo, who is the majority owner of the Vancouver Giants junior hockey team, says in the lead-up to his trip on the vessel, it was made very clear that death was a possibility.

"It says right in it that you can die," Toigo said Thursday on CBC's Early Edition of the disclosure agreements he had to sign to get on board.

"It makes it very clear this is an experimental ship and it's not certified."

Small issues experienced on 2021 trip

He recalled a small issue on his first trip in the summer of 2021, when a mechanism that is supposed to release weights so the submersible can ascend wasn't functioning. 

He says the ship was built so the weights would naturally disperse after about 30 hours, releasing the submersible back to the surface. 

But OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, one of the five men considered lost at sea, used the backup options to release the weights. 

"Stockton figured it out ... We were able to make it back to the top," said Toigo. "There was no panic."

Toigo says the company took safety very seriously and he felt comfortable during his time underwater. 

"When you get to the bottom it's like landing on the moon ... It was amazing," he said. 

He recalls seeing unique fish, sparkling lights resulting from various phosphorus levels, and the Titanic shipwreck. 

Toigo said he received extensive training and instruction to ensure he could bring the ship to safety if the captains became incapacitated. 

"I felt pretty comfortable and pretty sure that if things went wrong I'd be able to figure out how to get out of there," said Toigo. 

Lack of safety standards flagged by marine experts

A number of marine experts have raised concerns about the lack of safety standards in place on the Titan.

Of the 10 submersibles in the world that can dive to Titanic depths, the Titan is the only one that is not certified by a regulatory body, according to Will Kohnen, chair of the Marine Technology Society's submarine group.

Kohnen said while there is no law in the United States, where OceanGate is headquartered, that submersibles be certified by regulatory bodies, he emphasized that the lack of certification makes the company an outlier.

Keith Shepherd, general manager of the Canadian Scientific Submersible Facility, a non-profit based in Saanich, B.C., says he would feel safer in a certified vessel than he does riding his bicycle on the street.

But he says OceanGate has "gone their own path on a lot of the safety features."