‘At the mercy of the weather’: Simpsons writer’s dire warning regarding OceanGate vessels

Mike Reiss has gone on three voyages with OceanGate in the past, and alleges at lease one communication issue has emerged each trip.

The Simpsons writer Mike Reiss has opened up about his experience onboard Titan. Picture: Supplied

A writer on The Simpsons has revealed past safety fears and anxieties experienced by travellers on minisub trips to see the wreck of the Titanic.

Guests and journalists who risked their lives to make the trip told of radio failures, flickering lights and being at the mercy of deep sea currents.

Mike Reiss, who works on the classic US TV animated show, made the trip last year on the sub Titan and said communication failures were common, The Sun reports.

Mike Reiss, has been on OceanGate’s vessels three times. Picture: Supplied

Each time, communications to the mothership failed, he said. Picture: OceanGate Expeditions / AFP

He said: “I have taken three different dives with this company, one at the Titanic and two others and you almost always lost communication — and you are at the mercy of weather.”

The vessel is controlled by what passengers have likened to “Xbox controller” — but is, in fact, a handheld remote control made by computer firm Logitch.

Passengers described how the pilot resembled a computer gamer as they used the handheld pad to move the sub forward, back and up and down.

Reiss, from New York, added that it was “remarkable how basic and simple the whole operation is”.

Renata Rojas, a banker who visited the wreckage last July, described what happened when sonar failed during her trip.

Other passengers have reported having similar experiences. Picture: OceanGate

She said: “You have to find a way to communicate and navigate in the bottom of the ocean.

“Sometimes you don’t have communications, you have maybe just one system instead of all three.

“Some of the lights may flicker … The battery might be low and you need to go to the surface.”

CBS TV correspondent David Pogue, who has also travelled on Titan, told how all divers sign a sobering waiver before they embark on missions.

He said: “I couldn’t help noticing how many pieces of this sub seemed improvised, with off-the-shelf components.”

OceanGate president Stockton Rush, who is among the five on board, has previously pointed out Titan’s low-tech features including a light from CamperWorld and a toilet with a plastic bottle.

This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission

Originally published as ‘At the mercy of the weather’: Simpsons writer’s dire warning regarding OceanGate vessels