A marine scientist who worked on a submarine in Hawaii shares 3 things people interested in submarine tours should be wary of before booking one

• Mckenzie Margarethe is a marine scientist who spent two years working on a touring submarine.
• In light of the Titan tragedy, she shared 3 things people should look out for on submarine tours.

The world ground to a halt in late June when five people died onboard OceanGate's Titan submersible during a visit to the Titanic wreckage. The passengers had paid upwards of $250,000 for their places on the ill-fated vessel, which suffered a catastrophic implosion, killing all onboard.

In the aftermath, columnists and industry experts have seemingly come to the same conclusion: the Titan tragedy will not stop the super-rich from embarking on extreme travel.

With that in mind, Insider spoke to Mckenzie Margarethe, a former copilot and naturalist for Hawaii's Atlantis Adventure submarines, about the recommendations she has for people who are still interested in booking recreational submarine tours.

Margarethe, 31, told Insider she's also a marine scientist who is keen to return to working on a submarine for research purposes in the future — she regularly shares insights about the submersible industry, the ocean, and marine life on her TikTok page, which has over 368,000 followers.

A detailed waver outlining the worst-case scenarios isn't a bad sign

After the Titan tragedy, a lot was made about the fact that the passengers signed a waiver mentioning death three times on the first page.

According to Margarethe, however, a detailed waiver isn't so much of a red flag as it should be a standard document that passengers receive from companies that offer submarine tours before they board.

"People always talk about the waiver that they had to sign for the Titan. We also have a waiver that you have to sign that does say that you could die," she said. The caveat, she said, is that the risks of death were smaller on the Atlantic Adventure submarines when compared to the Titan.

The Atlantis Adventures submarines she worked on, which can carry up to 48 passengers, only descended to around 110 feet, she said. Meanwhile, OceanGate said the Titan could travel to 13,123 feet below the ocean's surface.

Nevertheless, the risk of death at either depth on a submarine is always "a possibility," she said.

Though Margarethe called some of the stipulations OceanGate outlined in its waiver "odd" (when Insider reviewed a copy of OceanGate's Titan submersible waiver on July 8, it mentioned the vessel was not certified by any regulatory bodies and built with materials that have "not been widely used" for other subs), anyone interested in booking a submarine tour should be prepared to see, read, and sign a detailed waiver.

Don't be afraid to ask about the history of the submarine you are boarding

Plain and simple, Margarethe said: "If you're on a touring submarine, you should be able to know the history of that company."

Finding out about the history of the submarine and the company isn't difficult to do, she added. She'd recommend simply researching the company and seeing if results come through listing anything related to "malfunctions" or "casualties."

Reflecting on the Titan tragedy, Margarethe pointed out that OceanGate had more failed dives than it did successful ones. In fact, the waiver states the company successfully completed "as few as 13" dives of 3,800 meters to the depth of the Titanic, making the success rate a mere 14%.

Again, Margarethe said there's always a risk when it comes to submarines and submersibles but that anyone who plans to board one in the future should want that risk to be "the outlier."

Be wary of the design of the submarine and the quality of its oxygen supply system

Margarethe said that one of the first things she would've done if she had been a passenger on the Titan was to ask the company to walk her through the oxygen supply system.

"If I were getting in something like the Titan, I would've been asking about the design so much," she said. "From the beginning, my concern would've been the CO2 scrubbers."

A CO2 scrubber is a piece of equipment that uses chemicals to extract the CO2 from the air passengers breathe while onboard a submarine. According to The Independent, the capacity of these scrubbers is limited, especially in smaller vessels like the Titan.

Margarethe went into further detail about the importance of scrubbers in a TikTok shared on June 20, which has over 728,300 views.

Before the deaths of the Titan passengers were confirmed, some of the biggest concerns industry experts had were about the vessel's scrubber system failing due to issues with electrical power loss or partial flooding in the pressure hull.

The result would mean everyone onboard would've died from CO2 poisoning way before the oxygen ran out, Margarethe said.

"That would've been a big concern of mine," she added. "It's not just how much air you have, it's like, 'OK, how are all of the other systems working?'"