Posted on 06/19/2023 10:59:42 AM PDT by Red Badger
A submarine that takes tourists into the depths of the Atlantic to view the Titanic has vanished, sparking fears the five people thought to be aboard may have met a fate similar to those who sailed on the iconic ship.
OceanGate Expeditions operates the submersible which drops tourists, who pony up $250,000 for a 10-day adventure, down for hours at a time from a vessel high above the Titanic, which rests some 2.5 miles down on the seabed about 370 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.
On Monday, social media was on fire after news broke that the submarine was missing. The BBC reported the Boston Coastguard said efforts were underway to find the wayward vessel which takes passengers to view the wreckage of the Titanic.
“Prayers for everyone involved,” said one user. “The titanic to the titanic 🙁 so sad,” said another. “My worst ever nightmare. I hope they are all safe,” tweeted a third.
“I wouldn’t call this ironic, but it’s pretty damn close,” said one user. “The sea is an unforgiving place for terrestrial animals,” a different user said.
The “OPA (orca planet alliance) declined to comment,” said one user, alluding to recent reports of killer whales accosting boasts. “To all the people making jokes I pray you never have to face that nightmare,” commented another user.
The Titanic sank during its maiden voyage in April 1912 after hitting an iceberg while making the journey from Southampton, England, to New York City, according to History.com. With the vessel sinking and passengers scrambling for a spot on a lifeboat, more than 1,500 people of the roughly 2,240 aboard the Titanic died.
Several decades later, in 1985, a joint French-American expedition found the wreckage of the ship, located some 13,000 feet underwater on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean. Further exploration, a blockbuster movie, and deep-sea tourism ensued.
As news spread about the tourist vessel going missing on Monday, more people commented on the story, adding insight and commentary as information about the missing tourist ship and search-and-rescue operation remained sparse.
“The article doesn’t give many details of the missing underwater vehicle besides calling it a ‘small submersible.’ One such submersible that takes tourists down to the Titanic wreckage, the ‘Titan’, holds 5 people including 3 tourist,” said Steve Lookner of Agenda-Free TV.
He shared a link to a Robb Report article from May 2022 that explored a $250,000 tourist getaway from OceanGate Expeditions. As of press time, it appeared a lot of people were visiting the website for OceanGate Expeditions as repeated efforts to visit it produced a “Service Unavailable” message.
I have a hard time getting insurance for a machine shop without a hassle on stuff, I can’t even imagine getting liability insurance on a submersible business.
“Adventure is bad planning” — Lowell Thomas.
““Adventure is bad planning” — Lowell Thomas.”
but good times ........ some guy( he was never found)
YIKES!
And I thought I was crazy for going into the Central American jungle to participate in archaeology, excavation.
Play stupid games........................
Perhaps the ultimate in Titanic tourism.
I wonder, was this the company’s first dive?..............
It's certain that they signed a document listing the many risks inherent to the activity and in which they agreed to assume those risks. Such an agreement would provide a defense to the touring company and, thus, to its insurance company. Of course, if the loss was due to company's intentional misconduct or gross negligence rather than the inherent risks of the activity, there might be a different outcome.
Their web site actually touts the “off the shelf” components.
I worked on the NAVYs DSRV Avalon/Mystic.
Very complex even with 1960 technology.
The depths of the sea and the abyss of space seem equally threatening.
Controlled by a computer running Windows?
Not facing that nightmare seems simple enough...
Video game controller to pilot the vessel. See post 24
Iceberg?
Their site boast off shelf uses.
Hadn’t thought about that, but yes, it could..................
Maybe we can dig them up in 100 years
We can have a tourist sub to visit the wreckage of the Tourist sub...
The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia said the vessel was reported overdue around 9:13 p.m. Sunday, about 435 miles (700 kilometres) south of St. John’s, Newfoundland. Lt. Cmdr. Len Hickey said a Canadian Coast Guard vessel and military aircraft were assisting the search effort, which was being led by the U.S. Coast Guard in Boston.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQZPRM8vsFc
David Pogue, a CBS reporter who travelled in the Titan submersible last year, told the BBC about the issues that both the submersible crew and the land crew are likely to be experiencing, saying that there is currently “no way” to communicate with the vessel as neither GPS nor radio “work under water”.
“When the support ship is directly over the sub, they can send short text messages back and forth. Clearly those are no longer getting a response,” Mr Pogue said.
He added that because the passengers are sealed inside the vessel by bolts applied from the outside, “there’s no way to escape, even if you rise to the surface by yourself. You cannot get out of the sub without a crew on the outside letting you out.”
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65953872
I was speaking of the newsreel announcer. His son (same name) was state senator and Lt. Governor from Alaska.
Maybe you’re thinking of Begich?
Possibly the object of the newsreel — I don’t know who that was....
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