Titanic tourist submersible goes missing [5-member crew presumed dead following search]

[Jetsfan80]

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65953872

Titanic tourist submersible goes missing with search under way

 

By Gareth Evans & Laura Gozzi

BBC News

 

A submersible craft used to take people to see the wreck of the Titanic has been missing in the Atlantic Ocean with its crew on board since Sunday, sparking a major search and rescue.

Contact with the submersible was lost about one hour and 45 minutes into the vessel's dive, the US coast guard said.

Tour firm OceanGate said it was exploring all options to get the crew back safely.

Government agencies and deep sea firms are helping the rescue operation.

 

OceanGate charges $250,000 (£195,612) a seat for expeditions to the Titanic, which lies some 3,800m (12,500ft) beneath the waves about 435 miles (700km) south of St John's, Newfoundland.

The missing craft is believed to be OceanGate's Titan submersible, a truck-sized sub that holds five people and usually dives with a four-day emergency supply of oxygen.

 

On Monday, Rear Adm John Mauger of the US Coast Guard told a news conference: "We anticipate there is somewhere between 70 and the full 96 hours available at this point."

He also said that two aircrafts, a submarine and sonar buoys were involved in the search for the vessel but noted the area in which the search is taking place was "remote", making operations difficult.

Rear Adm Mauger said the rescue teams were "taking this personally" and were doing everything they could to bring those on board "home safe".

Hamish Harding, a 58-year-old British billionaire businessman and explorer, is among those on the missing submarine, his family said.

On social media at the weekend, Mr Harding said he was "proud to finally announce" that he would be aboard the mission to the wreck of the Titanic - but added that due to the "worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years, this mission is likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023".

He later wrote: "A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow."

 

OceanGate said in a statement that its "entire focus is on the crewmembers in the submersible and their families".

"We are deeply thankful for the extensive assistance we have received from several government agencies and deep sea companies in our efforts to re-establish contact with the submersible," it added.

The company bills the eight-day trip on its carbon-fibre submersible as a "chance to step outside of everyday life and discover something truly extraordinary".

According to its website, one expedition is ongoing and two more have been planned for June 2024.

The submersible usually carries a pilot, three paying guests, and what the company calls a "content expert".

The trip sets sail from St John's in Newfoundland, which is around 370 miles (600km) from the wreckage site. Each full dive to the wreck, including the descent and ascent, reportedly takes around eight hours.

The OceanGate website lists three submersibles it owns, and only the Titan is capable of diving deep enough to reach the Titanic wreckage.

The vessel weighs 10,432 kg (23,000 lbs) and, according to the website, can reach depths of up to 4,000m and has 96 hours of life support available for a crew of five.

A vessel called the Polar Prince, which is used to transport submersibles to the wreckage site, was involved in the expedition, its owner told the BBC.

 

 

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."

The Titanic, which was the largest ship of its time, hit an iceberg on its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York in 1912. Of the 2,200 passengers and crew onboard, more than 1,500 died.

Its wreckage has been extensively explored since it was discovered in 1985.

The wreck lies in two parts, with the bow and the stern separated by about 800m (2,600ft). A huge debris field surrounds the broken vessel.

Last month, the first full-sized digital scan of the wreck was created using deep-sea mapping. The scan shows both the scale of the ship, as well as some minute details, such as the serial number on one of the propellers.

[bicketybam]

They won't find it.

[Matt39]

Nightmare fuel

[JetPotato]

It's almost like people shouldn't go there.

[The Crusher]

T

1 hour ago, Matt39 said:

Nightmare fuel

Of all the shit Billionares can by with 250 k, they choose to buy  terror. 

[HighPitch]

Feel terrible…. But the risk was known. Must be a sh*tty way to go

[Matt39]

2 minutes ago, The Crusher said:

T

Of all the sh*t Billionares can by with 250 k, they choose to buy  terror. 

There’s the invincibility factor here

[The Crusher]

Just now, Matt39 said:

There’s the invincibility factor here

What the hell does any of this have to do with Braxton Berrios?

 

 

[The Crusher]

8 minutes ago, HighPitch said:

Feel terrible…. But the risk was known. Must be a sh*tty way to go

250K seems kind of pricey for dying in a F350 converted to a submarine. 

[HighPitch]

Darned this is bolted closed from the outside? So even if you surface you cant get out? Yes sign me up

seriously tho if i was forced to get in that thing id fight to the death to prevent it. Cant believe anyone would volunteer and pay money. Dang

[RutgersJetFan]

I’m 42 and this is the most terrifying thing I can imagine, I can’t imagine being 19 and processing this. 

[Jimmy 2 Times]

This reminds me of when I paid hundreds of dollars to golf Whistling Straits in March.  

2+ hour drive, 45 degrees, 30 mph winds, and a steady rain.  

 

 

The analogy is there, I promise. 

[JetPotato]

1 hour ago, Jimmy 2 Times said:

This reminds me of when I paid hundred of dollars to golf Whistling Straits in March.  

2+ hour drive, 45 degrees, 30 mph winds, and a steady rain.  

 

 

The analogy is there, I promise. 

Did you get a hole in one (submarine)?

[Jet_Engine1]

9 hours ago, RutgersJetFan said:

I’m 42 and this is the most terrifying thing I can imagine, I can’t imagine being 19 and processing this. 

It's like Das Boot, The Vacation!

[Bugg]

3 hours ago, Jimmy 2 Times said:

This reminds me of when I paid hundreds of dollars to golf Whistling Straits in March.  

2+ hour drive, 45 degrees, 30 mph winds, and a steady rain.  

 

 

The analogy is there, I promise. 

it's like an  MRI tube 12k feet under the ocean with 4 other people all also facing their deaths.

The claustrophobia of this is off the charts. 

[Barry McCockinner]

39 minutes ago, Bugg said:

it's like an  MRI tube 12k feet under the ocean with 4 other people all also facing their deaths.

The claustrophobia of this is off the charts. 

hope no one had the chili

[Jetsfan80]

The damn thing is run by a f**king video game controller.

 

 

[southparkcpa]

2 hours ago, Jetsfan80 said:

The damn thing is run by a f**king video game controller.

 

 

So I am reading a lot about this and apparently a David Lochridge, an inspector, was fired for bringing certain weaknesses up to the board.  Totally fukked!  I can't imagine. 

[JiFtheOracle]

 

[JiFtheOracle]

As a surfer, I've had a few near death drowning experiences.  Like full blown, life flashing before my eyes, didnt think I'd find the top of the water moments.  Like most of us nutjobs, I wouldnt mind going out like that, doing something you love but knowing their is a consequential risk.  This? This is a different beast, stuck in that sh*t?  I think my biggest fear is being buried alive and then there is this, which I never considered and omg, it's like all my fears rolled into one.  

[Barry McCockinner]

4 hours ago, Jetsfan80 said:

The damn thing is run by a f**king video game controller.

 

 

hope they brought an extra set of batteries.

[nj meadowlands]

When you consider that there's no window / port hole to observe whatever they were diving to see, and they were just going to observe on images projected to television screens............this seems extra ******* stupid

[The Crusher]

10 hours ago, Jetsfan80 said:

The damn thing is run by a f**king video game controller.

 

 

Well that's just beyond terrifying. 

[JiFtheOracle]

I just read they can heard banging...**** me...this is a horror movie.

[Barry McCockinner]

3 minutes ago, JiF said:

I just read they can heard banging...**** me...this is a horror movie.

 

[Jetsfan80]

7 minutes ago, JiF said:

I just read they can heard banging...**** me...this is a horror movie.

Everything takes so long too, relatively speaking.  Coast Guard is like "we should be able to get to them in 24 hours".  Uh, they have like 15 hours of oxygen left.  

The rescue has been getting held up by government red tape along the way, too.  Absolute insanity at every level.

[RutgersJetFan]

The speed at which the Coast Guard mobilized on this for something that far out is pretty amazing. God bless those guys. 10 service assets out that far in this amount of time is no joke. They had 2 ROV's in the water in like a day.

The subtleties with which Oceangate is trying to cover its ass already are pretty astounding. They took 8 hours to report the sub missing and they're already trying to get ahead on the PR machine re: timeliness by blaming the U.S. and Canada. Quite sad.

[RutgersJetFan]

1 hour ago, nj meadowlands said:

When you consider that there's no window / port hole to observe whatever they were diving to see, and they were just going to observe on images projected to television screens............this seems extra ******* stupid

There's a window right in the front:

[JetPotato]

37 minutes ago, RutgersJetFan said:

The speed at which the Coast Guard mobilized on this for something that far out is pretty amazing. God bless those guys. 10 service assets out that far in this amount of time is no joke. They had 2 ROV's in the water in like a day.

The subtleties with which Oceangate is trying to cover its ass already are pretty astounding. They took 8 hours to report the sub missing and they're already trying to get ahead on the PR machine re: timeliness by blaming the U.S. and Canada. Quite sad.

Just naming themselves Oceangate was pretty prophetic.

[defensedoesntgetyoulaid]

3 hours ago, nj meadowlands said:

When you consider that there's no window / port hole to observe whatever they were diving to see, and they were just going to observe on images projected to television screens............this seems extra ******* stupid

[Hal N of Provo]

You guys haven’t hit the horror of it too.  
 

Suicide  early in it to give everyone a better chance - or wait 18 hours to run out of air together.  Or if a couple people do and you are left…

Oof.  
 

Everything about this….

 

On 6/20/2023 at 5:08 PM, Jimmy 2 Times said:

This reminds me of when I paid hundreds of dollars to golf Whistling Straits in March.  

2+ hour drive, 45 degrees, 30 mph winds, and a steady rain.  

 

 

The analogy is there, I promise. 

Are you saying you are rich and like to do stupid stuff? 
 

I can bolt you into a fridge and throw you in the ocean.  I’ll do it for half price - 125k - since I don’t have an extra video game controller to throw in.  

[Jetsfan80]

3 minutes ago, Hal N of Provo said:

You guys haven’t hit the horror of it too.  
 

Suicide  early in it to give everyone a better chance - or wait 18 hours to run out of air together.  Or if a couple people do and you are left…

Oof.  

 

Yeah, I didn't want to be the first one to bring it up, but......you have to think the guy with the 19-year old kid is more than willing to murder the other 2 adults to give his kid a few more hours of oxygen.

[Jet_Engine1]

7 hours ago, RutgersJetFan said:

The speed at which the Coast Guard mobilized on this for something that far out is pretty amazing. God bless those guys. 10 service assets out that far in this amount of time is no joke. They had 2 ROV's in the water in like a day.

The subtleties with which Oceangate is trying to cover its ass already are pretty astounding. They took 8 hours to report the sub missing and they're already trying to get ahead on the PR machine re: timeliness by blaming the U.S. and Canada. Quite sad.

The USCG are ******* ballers, and nobody knows it. Their motto is "Semper Paratus"....but the unofficial motto is "You have to go out...but you don't have to come back in". 

 

No sh*t.

[Jetsfan80]

I’m going to Hell for laughing at these.  
 

 

 

 

 

[jgb]

5 hours ago, Hal N of Provo said:

You guys haven’t hit the horror of it too.  
 

Suicide  early in it to give everyone a better chance - or wait 18 hours to run out of air together.  Or if a couple people do and you are left…

Oof.  

If they don’t survive I hope they went out quickly with a massive depressurization event which would have been instantaneous.