Posted on 06/20/2023 6:40:43 AM PDT by Red Badger
The desperate search for a missing submersible that vanished during a mission to explore the wreck of the Titanic continued on Tuesday as more information about those onboard came to light.
The submersible, which is part of an OceanGate Expeditions tour that offers passengers a once-in-a-lifetime experience to explore the Titanic wreckage, went missing on Sunday after losing contact with the research vessel Polar Prince.
British billionaire and owner of Action Aviation Hamish Harding was among the five people onboard the vessel, along with prominent Pakistani businessman, Shahzada Dawood, and his son, Suleman. The other two people onboard have yet to be identified.
Submersible was operated with a video game controller - Marlene Lenthang
Titan, the missing tourist submersible was operated by a video game controller and had parts that were described as “off-the-shelf components.”
During a tour of the vessel in a CBS News segment aired in November, OceanGate Expeditions CEO Stockton Rush pointed out some of these unexpected features including a light fixture from CamperWorld and a makeshift toilet with a plastic bottle.
He brought out a Logitech game controller saying, “we run the whole thing with this.” It was not immediately clear whether the submersible was operated with such a controller during the latest mission.
OceanGate’s website describes the five-person submersible as a combination of “ground-breaking engineering and off-the-shelf technology,” the latter of which “helped to streamline the construction, and makes it simple to operate and replace parts in the field.”
Thoughts of crew and their families driving search efforts - Marlene Lenthang
In the desperate search for the missing vessel touring the shipwreck of the Titanic deep in the Atlantic, crews are thinking of the lives of the five people on board first and foremost.
“The thoughts of the crew members and their families really drive our crews forward and all of the partners that have been working this complex case to make sure we can continue to find them,” Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger said Tuesday morning on NBC's "TODAY" show.
Factors such as oxygen levels, intense water pressure, and the remoteness of the area make the search difficult.
The ship went down Sunday with four days worth of oxygen. The wreckage of the Titanic is also at a depth of 13,000 feet — too deep for typical U.S. Navy subs, which typically go down to 2,000 or 3,000 feet, to descend to.
Canadian aircraft dropped a sonar buoy into the ocean listening for tapping or talking in an effort to pinpoint the submersible.
1h ago / 7:37 AM CDT OceanGate Expeditions leading underwater search - Marlene Lenthang
OceanGate Expeditions is leading the underwater search for the missing Titanic tourist submersible because the deep-water exploration company “know[s] that site better than anybody else,” Rear Adm. John Mauger with the Coast Guard said on NBC's “TODAY” show Tuesday morning.
As the search for the 21-foot submersible entered the third day, Mauger said search crews have an “understanding” of where the submersible was operating and searches are being prioritized in those areas.
The wreckage of the Titanic sits 900 nautical miles east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Searches are underway with equipment the Coast Guard has brought to the area. The agency's current focus is on getting more assets and technical experts to the scene as fast as possible.
2h ago / 6:58 AM CDT What did the Titanic expedition set out to achieve? - Chantal Da Silva
The submersible that disappeared Sunday was on only its third trip since OceanGate Expeditions began offering them in 2021.
On its website, the company said the expeditions are intended to "further document the Titanic and its rate of decay."
"Given the massive scale of the wreck and the debris field, multiple missions performed over several years will be required to fully document and model the wreck site," it says. "This longitudinal survey to collect images, videos, laser, and sonar data will allow objective assessment of the rate of decay and documentation of the process."
"Qualified explorers have the opportunity to join the expedition as Mission Specialist crewmembers whose Training and Mission Support Fees underwrite the mission, the participation of the science team, and their own training," the company states.
The US Navy and others, I’m sure, have listening devices planted all along the sea floors to keep track of underwater traffic noises.
That’s your guess. My guess is that with the “peace dividend” and the presidencies of Clinton, Obama and Biden a lot of things were turned off.
Hey, I get mad at the fences they erect near cliffs. The hatches that are welded shut on vehicles in museums really gripe my butt.
When reading about the thresher, it was described as being in a shotgun barrel. Thankfully for these poor people they wouldn’t have time to even blink.
I used gross approximations. It you use .444444 PSI per foot instead of .5 PSI, you get 5777.8 PSI the easy way.
For sea water, each 33’ of depth is 1ATM or 14.7psi.
Take 14.7 / 33, you have .4454545454 PSI per foot.
I carried a higher precision in my constants than you.
If it automatically surfaced and they lost comm, they are as gone as if it imploded 13k feet down....and submersible may not be found for years - on the surface.
Clearly not enough redundancy back-up systems in many areas......
I suspect they are goners - if not now, soon..........
The headline says it has emerged. Last I heard it had not emerged. So, which is correct?
Wonder if someone forgot to bring extra batteries for the game controller.
Or maybe the new intern figured if he threw in the solar charger for said batteries they could minimize their carbon footprint for this trip?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.