Passengers on the Titan were once stranded at sea for three days.

French explorer Nargeolet was trapped in a submersible for three days, but still decided to board the Titan for the fateful trip last month.

Before joining the expedition to the Titanic wreck with the submersible Titan on June 18, French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77, told the group about his previous adventurous trips.

Christine Dawood, wife of Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, who boarded the Titan with her son Suleman Dawood on the fateful voyage, said that during the presentation, Nargeolet told of his 37 previous successful approaches to the Titanic wreck.

French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet. Photo: AFP

However, he also said that he was once trapped in a submersible underwater for three days and was unable to communicate with the outside world. Nargeolet did not specify which submersible the experience took place in or how the incident was resolved.

Nargeolet has been diving to the Titanic wreck for years, collecting artifacts from the ship to display in museums and exhibitions. Before his fateful dive, he had planned to go to Paris on July 18 to open a Titanic exhibition.

After hearing Nargeolet's story of being trapped, businessman Shahzada did not show any concern but was still excited to join the tour on the Titan submersible provided by OceanGate company.

“He said, ‘Oh, this is great.’ His face lit up,” Christine recalls.

Shahzada and Nargeolet, along with two other passengers, boarded the Titan early on the morning of June 18 and lost contact after an hour and 45 minutes. The ship was later determined to have been crushed to the bottom of the sea, killing all five people on board instantly.

Reporter Mike Reiss, who participated in the Titan's diving expedition, said the ship had problems losing communication during the trip.

"I've been on the OceanGate submersible four times, once to the Titanic wreck and three times off the coast of New York City. Each time I've had a communication failure, at least for a short time," Reiss said.

US officials believe the Titan was crushed by enormous water pressure at a depth of nearly 4,000 meters, but it is not yet clear whether this was due to a technical failure of the ship or human error.

Many experts say they warned about problems with the Titan submersible, but OceanGate appears to have ignored them and the company continues to use the vessel to take tourists to explore the wreck of the Titanic at a depth of 3,800 meters below the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. Customers pay $250,000 for each 8-hour deep dive.

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