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.
6,500 PSI
Not all designs work, regardless of materials.
If it’s just a communication glitch, then why didn’t they come back up when they were supposed to?
I don't know...speculation. Once they're underwater there was no gps...they get to where they were going from basically text messages from the surface.
Scientists and mappers, I get. But tourists? No.
Four tourists paying $250,000 each.
If I've done my sums correctly, that's a cool million per dive.
Surfacing optional.
The US Navy and others, I’m sure, have listening devices planted all along the sea floors to keep track of underwater traffic noises.
The USS Scorpion nuclear submarine was lost in 1968 off the coast of the Azores, with all hands.
Months later, during the investigation, they found that the implosion sound had been recorded by these devices, as the sub fell through ‘crush depth’. And that was using 1968 technology.
I guarantee you the US Navy knows at this point whether or not that sub is still functioning or has been crushed.................
It is possible that they are floating on the surface of water but hatch only opens from outside, same flaw as Apollo 1.
I would think that we would have an unmanned vehicle to send down to investigate.
“I would think that we would have an unmanned vehicle to send down to investigate.”
Unfortunately, that’s likely what will happen eventually, should the Titan not be found.
So what? Do we need a law against submarines? Maybe a government agency to regulate them and make sure they’re ADA compliant?
He was bragging the submersible was built with camping parts and totally operated by a video game controller.
250 thousand a person for a trip 12,500 ft below in the ocean in a tin can?
No thank you.
The lawsuits will be in multi-millions. So the $250K may not go far.
IIRC, those acoustic records were later destroyed.
Latest from the UK...
One article says they lost comms about 1:40 hours in.
As they did not return to the surface, this may indicate electrical was also lost.
Does not sound good...
The advert for the trip wasn’t lying. It was a “Once in a lifetime experience.”
Unless the submersible is bobbing on the surface of the ocean somewhere, I don’t see how there’s any possibility of a rescue. If that thing is stuck at the bottom where the Titanic’s wreckage is, or even halfway down, it’s basically as irretrievable as the Titanic.
The problem is: where is the nearest unmanned vehicle currently located, and how long will it take to transport it to the area that needs to be searched?
The “PlayStation controller” bit I can understand; the Virginia class nuclear attack sub uses an XBOX controller to control the periscope (which is these days a “photonic mast” - all electronic). Sometimes it just doesn’t make sense to engineer something new and more expensive when a readily available item will work just as well.
Many people have died exploring the wreck of the Andrea Doria I suppose after 38 years after being discovered it’s Titanic’s turn to take more lives...
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