A scientist and former TV host who was stuck at the Titanic wreck site over 20 years ago is telling his story as frantic searches continue to find an OceanGate submersible that went missing while diving to the wreck.

On Wednesday, Michael Guillen told CTV News Channel’s Heather Butts, “We just got caught in a very strong underwater current.” “It was totally out of the blue.”

Guillen says he didn’t panic at the time, but he knew immediately that the people on board were in a life-or-death situation. As a “professional problem solver,” he tried to come up with a solution, but quickly realised that he could do nothing. They were completely dependent on the vehicle’s pilot.

But Guillen says that the main difference between what happened in 2000 and today is that his team didn’t lose contact with the surface.

“Our pilot was always in touch with the research ship above us, which was the mother ship,” Guillen says.

After being stuck almost 4,000 metres below for “the better part of an hour,” Guillen’s submersible finally got back to the surface. However, the hours it took to get back to the surface were “nail-biting” and still leave him “physically and emotionally” tired when he talks about it.

Guillen also strongly warns anyone who wants to visit the wreck site: “Have respect for Mother Nature… This is not a pleasure trip.”

Guillen’s full story can be seen by clicking on the video at the top of this piece.