Parks Stephenson, the discoverer of the Titanic who worked with director James Cameron on his classic romantic drama, worries Sunday’s disappearance of a tourist submarine during an expedition to the wreck “could grow to be an incredible tragedy.”
“Whatever chances are you’ll read in the coming hours, all that is actually known at the moment is that contact with the submarine has been lost and that is unusual enough to require the most serious consideration,” Stephenson wrote in the letter. Facebook post Monday.
“I’m most apprehensive about the souls on board whose identities haven’t yet been made public,” he added at the time, although five passengers had already been identified.
Stephenson and Cameron, 68, traveled greater than 2 miles below the ocean’s surface to the wreck of the Titanic in 2005.
The expert worked as a technical advisor on the set of Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet’s 1997 blockbuster and reportedly visited the wreck several more times, including as recently as 2019.
![Parks Stephenson was James Cameron's technical adviser](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/NYPICHPDPICT000012963593.jpg?w=1024)
Stephenson declined to talk to the media, writing in a follow-up Facebook post on Monday: “The situation is changing and I need to respect everyone who could also be affected by what could grow to be a significant tragedy. Similarly, I won’t comment on my posts on this subject.”
He continued: “Please keep the well-being of all potentially affected in your thoughts. They would not be there if it wasn’t for the public demand for details about this wreck.”
OceanGate’s Titan submarine takes passengers 12,500 feet underwater to watch a 1912 shipwreck in the Atlantic Ocean.
The vehicle was equipped with 4 days of oxygen when it disappeared Sunday 370 miles from Newfoundland, Canada.
![This undated photo provided by OceanGate Expeditions in June 2021 shows the company's Titan submarine.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/NYPICHPDPICT000012924347.jpg?w=1024)
Captain Jamie Frederick of the US Coast Guard told reporters on Tuesday afternoon that the missing ship still had about 41 hours of oxygen to breathe.
Rear Admiral John Mauger, who helps coordinate the search, said he might get stuck.
“We do not have equipment on site to conduct a bottom survey,” Mauger said Tuesday, in response to Mirror. “There may be plenty of debris, so locating it should be difficult. Immediately, we’re focused on attempting to locate him.”
![James Cameron's 'Titanic' expert mulls over 'remarkable' missing submarine](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/NYPICHPDPICT000012946904.jpg?w=1024)
If rescue teams are unable to locate Titan before the oxygen runs out, it should be the deepest recovery mission ever.
– said the leader of the Titanic expedition, G. Michael Harris Fox News early on Tuesday that he is anxious about the tragedy that befell the lost submarine.
The five people on board are British businessman Hamish Harding, 58, French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77, OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, 61, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, 49, and his son Suleman Dawood, 19. years).
![James Cameron's 'Titanic' expert mulls over 'remarkable' missing submarine](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/NYPICHPDPICT000012925092.jpg?w=1024)
“Hey, we’re leaving tomorrow, looks good, the weather was bad so that they’ve been waiting for this,” Harding wrote in a chilling message last Saturday to his friend and retired NASA astronaut Colonel Terry Virts.
Meanwhile, a former OceanGate worker warned of problems with “quality control and safety” as early as 2018. the lawsuit reappeared.
An worker who says he was fired for raising concerns said further testing was needed to make sure the submarine’s hull would withstand the rigors of the expedition.