I found the game controller thing strange at the beginning, too. But then I heard that the Us Navy is using them, too. Although not for steering but for their periscopes.

What I find really dumb is that the crew is bolted in from outside and there is no mechanism to open the vessel from the inside.

Not that it matters much when you're drifting on the open ocean.

And not painting the thing yellow or orange or something that pops, especially when it's not connected to a ship via cables and when the crew can't open the hatch themselves.

What I found kind of amusing is that people pay a quarter million and then have to take turns looking out a small window.

Re: Your edit

None of those fail-safes matter if it's snagged on anything, and judging by all the cables and other stuff on the outside I wouldn't be surprised if it was snagged.

However, I think the buoys 'hearing' banging does sorta mean it's closer to the surface.