The company behind the missing submersible thanked Elon Musk's company Starlink prior to the disastrous expedition. He hasn't said a word about the mission on Twitter.

• OceanGate Expeditions said it used Elon Musk's Starlink satellites to provide its internet access.
• It's unknown whether Starlink played a role in the Titan's disappearance or loss of communications.

OceanGate Expeditions, the company whose submersible has gone missing, tweeted a shout-out to Elon Musk's Starlink satellites earlier this month — but Musk has yet to comment on the ongoing situation.

On Sunday, five people in a submersible called the Titan lost communication with The Polar Prince, a Canadian research ship, two hours into their descent to the Titanic shipwreck. A joint effort between US and Canadian military forces is underway. The US Coast Guard estimated the craft would run out of breathable air by Thursday afternoon ET.

Three weeks before the mission, the company tweeted that Starlink, a global internet-service provider with a goal of providing internet to remote areas, helped the company with its exploration operations in the middle of the ocean.

"Despite being in the middle of the North Atlantic, we have the internet connection we need to make our #Titanic dive operations a success - thank you @Starlink!" the OceanGate Expeditions Twitter account wrote.

The Starlink Twitter account later liked the tweet.

It's unknown whether Starlink played any role in the Titan's disappearance, loss of communications, or if it was used on this mission, the submersible, or The Polar Prince. It's also unclear whether SpaceX, the company behind Starlink, and OceanGate have any financial or business ties.

Despite users pointing out this connection online, neither Starlink nor Musk has spoken about the missing passengers on the Titan nor clarified whether there was a relationship between OceanGate and Starlink.

OceanGate Expeditions, which charged tourists $250,000 to embark on an eight-day exploration of the wreck of the Titanic and has had two previous expeditions, is currently under fire for flouting safety rules before Sunday's expedition.

The maker of the Titan previously said that the vessel wasn't checked to see if it was up to standards by independent groups like the American Bureau of Shipping. At the same time, the CEO complained about the industry being "obscenely safe." Meanwhile, the company faced a previous safety lawsuit from a former employee who accused the vessel of being dangerous to passengers.

The CBS News Correspondent David Pogue, who reported about OceanGate during a 2022 Titanic exploration, tweeted on Monday that a similar situation — where the crew on the surface lost the location of the submersible — occurred. Although the vessel's location was unknown, Pogue said crewmembers could "still send short texts to the sub, but did not know where it was." Pogue also discussed the incident on his podcast, "Unsung Science."

Pogue said the company shut off the internet to prevent reporters from tweeting about the incident.

Musk, meanwhile, has been tweeting about Ivermectin, Starlink in Rwanda, and vaccine misinformation.

Representatives for Starlink and OceanGate did not immediately respond to requests for comment.