Very sad. Criminal negligence. At the least why was there no submarine emergency position-indicating radio beacon?
www.saphotonics.com
The benefit of the SA Photonics SSEPIRB is the unique combination of energy harvesting and energy storage systems that increase reliability and shelf life and reduce maintenance. Our self-powered SEPIRB has a shelf life of more than 10 years and an energy harvesting system that can efficiently generate power from the surrounding environment for more than the minimum 48 hours. Redundant linear generators are used to generate energy from wave motion, and instead of using traditional rechargeable batteries which may limit the lifespan and shelf-life of a SEPIRB, energy for the SA Photonics system is stored in high tech. quick charge subsystems which have almost unlimited charge/discharge cycles with no degradation of performance. High reliability power sources supplement the energy charging system to provide a fast first charge of the system and to minimize time to first position fix and the first distress signal transmission.
Would this device have to be affixed to the outside of the submersible and withstand pressure at bottom near the wreckage to function? Or could it be inside the capsule area and work by manually activating it if and when they reached the surface again? It’s annoying to think they may have been floating on the surface in the rough seas but not visible for days with no way to alert rescuers as they ran out of air.
In a 2022 Good Morning America segment detailing a previous, successful expedition to the Titanic, journalist David Pogue reads aloud a portion of the passenger waiver. In it, Titan is described as, “An experimental, submersible vessel that has not been approved or certified by any regulatory body, and could result in physical injury, disability, emotional trauma, or death.”
In a follow-up Twitter thread this week, Pogue appears to confirm that Titan lacked any emergency distress location beacon at the time of his visit. “On my expedition last summer, they did indeed get lost for about 5 hours, and adding such a beacon was discussed…,” he writes.
https://www.popsci.com/technology/oceangate-titan-submersible/