Titanic tourist sub goes missing in Atlantic Ocean, June 2023

DNA Solves
DNA Solves
DNA Solves
Status
Not open for further replies.
Two hours of precious time lost. Ugh.
If what David Pogue had to say about how they reacted when the sub was unlocatable in the past is true, I bet they were hoping that the problem would fix itself. Shutting down the internet to stop people reporting it to the outside was how they handled it before. I bet they only contacted the Coast Guard when it became clear they had no alternative.

Titanic tourist sub goes missing in Atlantic Ocean, June 2023

MOO
 
Is it possible the submersible went way off cours right after losing contact?
They wouldn't know where to go, right?
As far as I know, from what I've read in articles, they rely on the contact with the surface for navigation. That far down, it would be in all likelihood completely black, sunlight doesn't penetrate anywhere near that deep.

MOO
 
If it got to the surface, would there be a way to get out or at least let some air in ?
This article says it can only be opened from the outside.

https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/incidents/shocking-details-revealed-about-missing-tourist-sub-visiting-titanic-shipwreck/news-story/b656c17d47c5c8bc069f09e3e1de5b90
I think they're stuffed unless they're found, whether they're on the surface or under it. That air is going to run out regardless.

Painting it bright orange or having a beacon that at least worked when the submersible was on the surface seem like they would have really helped if they're not on the ocean floor right now. But what do I know, I'm not a scientist.

(O/T I hate flying, and I hate boats for the same reason. Call me ridiculous, but I just hate having miles of not-ground underneath me. I don't even like tall buildings, as in, over a handful.)

MOO
 
If it got to the surface, would there be a way to get out or at least let some air in ?
This article says it can only be opened from the outside.

https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/incidents/shocking-details-revealed-about-missing-tourist-sub-visiting-titanic-shipwreck/news-story/b656c17d47c5c8bc069f09e3e1de5b90

Nope. There are 17 external bolts that need undoing from the outside. If it’s bobbing about on the surface they need to find it asap to let them out. That’s the only hope right now.
 

Hamish Harding, Shahzada Dawood and son Suleman: Who is on board Titanic sub?​


British adventurer Hamish Harding and a British businessman and his son are on the missing submersible diving to the Titanic's wreck, their families say.

Mr Harding, 58, chairman of aircraft firm Action Aviation, is a renowned explorer who has flown to space and holds three Guinness World Records.

The family of businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son, Suleman, have asked people to pray for them.

Submersible operator OceanGate said its entire focus was on the crew's return.

French explorer Paul-Henry Nargeolet is also thought to be on board, according to a Facebook post by Mr Harding before the dive started

Stockton Rush, chief executive of OceanGate, is also widely reported to be on the vessel.

 

'The craft will have to reach the surface to send signals'​


Frank Owen, former director of the Australian submarine escape and rescue project has been speaking to our colleagues at Radio 5 Live.

He says the submersible won't have distress beacons they can release to the surface, but instead will have to reach the surface itself before it can alert rescuers.

"There will be radio transmitters, GPS signals," he says. "There'll be strobe lights and radar reflectors to help the searching forces find them."

But all these distress signals can't be sent until the craft has reached the surface.

Owen says the submersible will have "several hundred kilos of metal" that can be ditched to give it enough buoyancy.

"That doesn't require power to do," he adds. "You can have a hydraulic hand pump to cut the cable and you would have expected that to have occurred."

 

Like searching for a mine in a minefield - ex-submarine officer​

We've heard some more from former submarine officer Frank Owen who says the first stage of the search operation would involve trying to communicate with the sub via transmitters.

It will be massively difficult to find the sub due to its size and it being in the middle of a debris field, the former director of the Australian Submarine Escape and Rescue project says.
Owen says when the Titanic sank, parts of the ship sank with it, but not all in the same place.

"It’s like searching for a mine in a minefield," he told the BBC, adding that it would be hard to know what is a rock and what isn't.

Referencing how the deep the Titanic wreckage is, Owen warns it is "well beyond" the depth capacities of many rescue systems.

 

Shahzada Dawood and son are British citizens​


We've just learned that Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, who are on board the sub, are British citizens.

That's according to a spokesman for the Dawood family in Pakistan who provided a statement to the BBC.

The family is one of Pakistan's richest. Dawood is a trustee at the SETI Institute - a organisation researching the origins and prevalence of life and intelligence in the universe.

He is also on an advisory board for the Prince's Trust international and has links to the British Asian Trust, organisations set up by the King as Prince of Wales, according to his profile on the SETI website.

 
I think they're stuffed unless they're found, whether they're on the surface or under it. That air is going to run out regardless.

Painting it bright orange or having a beacon that at least worked when the submersible was on the surface seem like they would have really helped if they're not on the ocean floor right now. But what do I know, I'm not a scientist.

(O/T I hate flying, and I hate boats for the same reason. Call me ridiculous, but I just hate having miles of not-ground underneath me. I don't even like tall buildings, as in, over a handful.)

MOO

I believe that they have ways to make their presence known if they get to the surface. The Canadian Coast guard out of Newfoundland has one of the highest success rates in the world. The US is assisting in the search too. The vessel would be found.

However, if they could get to the surface, surely they would be there by now. The fear is that they did not get to the surface.
 

What is the latest on the rescue effort?​

US and Canadian teams are racing against the clock to find and rescue the small sub that went missing on Sunday.

The US Coast Guard's Rear Admiral John Mauger said on Monday that it is a challenge to conduct a search in such a remote area.

The search has two aspects, either on the ocean's surface or an underwater sonar search, he said.

The Coast Guard has sent two C-130 Hercules aircraft to search for the submersible on the surface of the water, and has been joined by a Canadian C-130, and a P8 aircraft equipped with underwater sonar capability. Sonar buoys are also being deployed in the area.

Rear Adm Mauger said it would need additional expertise to rescue the vessel if it was found underwater and he has reached out for help.


Where is the Titanic wreck?​


1687257862628.png
The wreck of the Titanic is located about 600km (370 miles) off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, and it sits 3,800m (12,500ft) deep at the bottom of the Atlantic.

The passenger liner 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.

The remains of the Titanic were discovered in 1985, and the site of the wreck has been extensively explored since then.

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


 

Occasionally things go wrong, says BBC documentary director​


We've just heard from Simon Platts who directed a BBC documentary episode about the Titan sub last year.

He says that Stockton Rush, the CEO and founder of the company that organised the mission, makes it clear that there is no guarantee that people on the dives will see the Titanic and that it is a "dangerous environment".

The director of the BBC's Travel Show says the technology used to control the sub is "innovative" and can occasionally go wrong.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Platts said: "I got the impression that occasionally things go slightly wrong, but when I was there, there never seemed to be an indication that things could go catastrophically wrong."

 
The BBC Breakfast guest described the journey as "very relaxing, very comfortable" and even fell asleep on the way down to see the wreckage. "It couldn't be lower tech, you just drop down for 2 and half hours," Mike explained. "The ship is propelled by very tiny motors that look like a fan you would have on your desk and it is steered by an X-box joystick from a game system.

The more I read about this, the more of a batshit tin pot idea it sounds.
 
I was wanting to bring this up. There seems to be a long history of wealthy men going on dangerous adventures and world breaking events only to die trying.
High altitude ballooning, mountain climbing, experimental aircraft, high speed vehicles and Antartica exhibitions.
Now it is going to space (Blue Origins) and diving to the bottom of the ocean.
I guess having a lot of money is not enough to fulfill their lives.

Yes, as with a lot of modern advances, I think people need reminding often that just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should!
Luckily for me I don't forsee me ever having ridiculous amounts of money that burns a hole in my pocket and causes me to lose all common sense, and my lack of sense for self preservation!.

If that happened, it could only have been while they were at the surface.

Whales are mammals, and they need to breathe air, which is why they periodically surface to breathe air through their blowholes. They can’t survive at great depths, just like all mammals.

It couldn’t have happened when the passengers were about to submerge because there were photographers there, since we saw the pictures of them on Titan in MSM. And apparently communication was lost with the sub while they were still deeply submerged.

It’s an interesting thought, but IMO rogue whales are really only a problem for pleasure boats or fishing boats, such as are mentioned in your link.

Orcas can and do dive to depths of 500ft many times a day, and have been recorded at even greater depths, so it is technically possible, however the latest reports suggest that the sub made it at least almost all the way to the wreckage, so I agree that Orcas aren't very likely to have interfered here. JMO
 

Occasionally things go wrong, says BBC documentary director​


We've just heard from Simon Platts who directed a BBC documentary episode about the Titan sub last year.

He says that Stockton Rush, the CEO and founder of the company that organised the mission, makes it clear that there is no guarantee that people on the dives will see the Titanic and that it is a "dangerous environment".

The director of the BBC's Travel Show says the technology used to control the sub is "innovative" and can occasionally go wrong.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Platts said: "I got the impression that occasionally things go slightly wrong, but when I was there, there never seemed to be an indication that things could go catastrophically wrong."

For 'innovative' I have to admit I'm reading 'experimental as all get out and buggy as heck'.

That's the thing about things going catastrophically wrong, they can happen without overt indications. How many successful space missions did we have before and after Challenger and Colombia? And we know NASA actually did all the tests they could, crunched all the numbers.

MOO
 
The BBC Breakfast guest described the journey as "very relaxing, very comfortable" and even fell asleep on the way down to see the wreckage. "It couldn't be lower tech, you just drop down for 2 and half hours," Mike explained. "The ship is propelled by very tiny motors that look like a fan you would have on your desk and it is steered by an X-box joystick from a game system.

The more I read about this, the more of a batshit tin pot idea it sounds.

BIB - If I didn't know it was real I'd think someone was having a laugh. It sounds like a wind-up.
 
A writer who took the Titanic submersible trip last year said he is “not optimistic” over the search for the missing OceanGate craft.

Mike Reiss told BBC Breakfast communication was also lost during his dive down to the Titanic.

Reiss said: “I’m not optimistic just because I know the logistics of it. And I know how vast the ocean is, and how very tiny the craft is.

He added: “So the idea is, if it’s down at the bottom, I don’t know how anyone’s going to be able to access it, much less bring it back up.

“There is a hope that it’s at, or near, the surface.

“I did three separate dives. I did one dive to the Titanic and two more off the coast of New York.

“Every time they lost communication and again, this is not a shoddy ship or anything.”

 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Members online

Online statistics

Members online
168
Guests online
219
Total visitors
387

Forum statistics

Threads
608,624
Messages
18,242,508
Members
234,401
Latest member
CRIM1959
Back
Top