Titanic tourist sub goes missing in Atlantic Ocean, June 2023

[Lexiintoronto]

The Titanic is in international waters, with the site protected by treaty with various signers, including the US. See NOAA - Titanic Treaty

Thank you, I corrected my post.
I read reports yesterday about it being in US waters and that’s why the US were leading the rescue.

 

[lonetraveler]

This waiting for any news of the missing submarine is reminding me of when the Kursk,the Russian submarine that sunk to the bottom of the Barents Sea in 2000 with all 118 crew perishing.Same feeling of dread now...

I've been thinking about the Russian submarine too. Followed it with a dread that all would end very badly. Same now too. Thinking alike as I'm sure many others are too. It's agonizing to wait.

 

[Erutan]

Question : If they're found alive (& I hope so !), wouldn't they need to decompress on the way up so as not to get the 'bends' ?
They are in a submersible and not scuba diving, so as long as they're o.k., they could be raised as swiftly as possible ?

 

[iamshadow21]

Question : If they're found alive (& I hope so !), wouldn't they need to decompress on the way up so as not to get the 'bends' ?
They are in a submersible and not scuba diving, so as long as they're o.k., they could be raised as swiftly as possible ?

As far as I know, the submersible is maintained at surface pressure, that's the point. It could not be at deep-sea pressure with living occupants.

MOO

 

[Mama-dukes]

OceanGate Home

oceangate.com

4,000 meters (13,123 feet)

Titan is a revolutionary carbon fiber and titanium submersible with a depth range of 4,000 meters that provides access to almost 50% of the world's oceans. Titan ushers in a new era of crewed submersible exploration and is the only sub in the world that can take five crewmembers to these depths.

View attachment 429911

500 meters (1,640 feet)

The first of the Cyclops-class submersibles, Cyclops 1 is a fully functional prototype and platform for software, technology and equipment for Titan. Following her debut in 2015 the OceanGate crew has deployed Cyclops 1 on dozens of missions in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans and the Gulf of Mexico.

View attachment 429912

OceanGate Home

oceangate.com

Can I ask if this was 2 leak or something like that bust open if possible Or whatever may have happened how long would they have 2 live or if that happened I don’t know just looking at the pictures made me think of that

 

[Mama-dukes]

Question : If they're found alive (& I hope so !), wouldn't they need to decompress on the way up so as not to get the 'bends' ?
They are in a submersible and not scuba diving, so as long as they're o.k., they could be raised as swiftly as possible ?

The sub comes up also like scuba diving is that what you’re saying I’m only asking I have no clue on anything about this kind of stuff

 

[Bostongirl]

As far as I know, the submersible is maintained at surface pressure, that's the point. It could not be at deep-sea pressure with living occupants.

MOO

So this article talks about how they are bringing a decompression chamber to the site to aid the passengers coming up from the bottom.

About 1/2 way down the article.

Coast Guard says it can't guarantee rescue of Titanic tourist sub

The Titan submersible has been missing since 9.45am on Sunday morning after being launched into the Atlantic at 8am.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[Howl]

Maybe a dumb and irrelevant (if it’s imploded) question, but do subs like Titan have a black box?

Upthread there was a link to a first-person account reporting that on a dive during the previous year, the mother ship and the sub lost communication for FIVE HOURS. (The person was not in the sub during the incident; they were aboard the mother ship.)

After that terrifying incident, apparently OceanGate still didn't install a redundant communication system or a transponder; I'd speculate (MOO!) that they wouldn't bother with a black box.

Were they able to monitor the subs operating systems in real time? Had they lost communication again, the same as the previous five-hour communication gap when they "lost" the sub in the past?

 

[JDG]

Gradual suffocation and panic attacks: Being trapped in a submarine

Dr Dale Molé, former director of undersea medicine and radiation health for the US Navy, detailed how passengers on board a commercial submersible face depleting oxygen supplies.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[iamshadow21]

Can I ask if this was 2 leak or something like that bust open if possible Or whatever may have happened how long would they have 2 live or if that happened I don’t know just looking at the pictures made me think of that

If there was any kind of leak, any flaw, as far as I know, at the depths they were going to, the entire thing would implode - collapse in on itself like an empty drink can. It would be very quick.

The pressure outside the vessel is far far greater than that on the inside. So any weak point or rupture, and the physics are, that disparity wants to equalise. And the higher pressure outside is vastly stronger than the lower pressure inside.

I am not a scientist, physics was my worst subject, but that's my very amateur understanding of the situation.

MOO

 

[JerseyGirl]

UPDATE: Navy, TRANSCOM Supporting Search for Submersible Missing After Dive to Titanic Wreck - USNI News

The Navy and U.S. Transportation Command are sending salvage equipment to help find a submersible that went missing while trying to travel to the wreck of RMS Titanic, the Coast Guard announced Tuesday. The U.S. Coast Guard set up a unified command Monday that brings together the U.S. and...

news.usni.org

The U.S. Coast Guard set up a unified command that brings together the U.S. and Canadian coast guards, the U.S. Navy and the Canadian armed forces to coordinate rescue efforts.

The Navy is sending a Flyaway Deep Ocean Salvage System, as well as subject matter experts, the sea service said in a Tuesday afternoon statement.

The Flyaway Deep Ocean Salvage System is a “motion compensated lift system designed to provide reliable deep ocean lifting capacity for the recovery of large, bulky, and heavy undersea objects such as aircraft or small vessels,” according to the statement.

Both the salvage system and subject experts are expected to arrive at St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada, tonight.

Canadian Coast Guard and Royal Canadian Air Force aircraft have been part of the surface search. RCAF C-140 Aurora anti-submarine warfare aircraft have dropped sonobuoys in an effort to search below the surface for Titan and the five aboard.

MV Deep Energy, a 194-meter pipe laying vessel that has remotely operated vehicle capabilities, arrived Tuesday to help with the search, Frederick said. The vessel started an ROV dive with operations ongoing.

 

[MsMarple]

I don’t know if I agree with that. I mean clearly these people wanted to create something that worked. And they had to ensure that it worked very efficiently and safely otherwise they’d be wasting all the time and effort.

I think the issue is there are no standards to compare to something that doesn’t really exist?

There are other manned submersibles capable of descending to the same depths. What makes this one unique is that it’s designed for paying passengers with a single destination rather than underwater research.

I don’t know what modifications the company made to accommodate tourists but thankfully they didn’t have to invent the submersible. Hopefully that means the passengers are safe and will be found before the air is depleted.

https://www.mtsmuv.org/active-manned-submersibles-by-depth

 

[Curiousobserver]

I don’t know if I agree with that. I mean clearly these people wanted to create something that worked. And they had to ensure that it worked very efficiently and safely otherwise they’d be wasting all the time and effort.

I think the issue is there are no standards to compare to something that doesn’t really exist?

People who invent things that never existed make mistakes- See the history of SpaceX... All of the people on this sub understood the risks

At the same time I watched an expert on BBC today who pilots submersibles- apparently most submersibles have multiple locator beacons on the hull and systems, that do not require power, to surface the vessel in an emergency.

 

[linds1393]

I'm not sure if this has been asked before, but I'm wondering what were they using before for communication?

 

[fred&edna]

Is there some sort of US agency that governs companies like OceanGate... with non-paying individuals aboard? (Sorry if this has been answered previously)

 

[Tiger Stripes]

I've been following this story since I first heard of it, just over 24 hours ago. Here's a link (perhaps someone else has already posted it) to the BBC's ongoing live coverage:

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-us-canada-65953941

The US Coast Guard is ATM holding a live news conference in Boston, Massachusetts.

 

[Erutan]

So this article talks about how they are bringing a decompression chamber to the site to aid the passengers coming up from the bottom.

About 1/2 way down the article.

Coast Guard says it can't guarantee rescue of Titanic tourist sub

The Titan submersible has been missing since 9.45am on Sunday morning after being launched into the Atlantic at 8am.

www.dailymail.co.uk

That's if they can be brought up safely, even though the sub, Titan, is pressurized, correct ?
Or maybe a decompression chamber if they've lost some of the pressure ?
Obv. not all of the pressure or they'd be gone.

This is from my layman's terms again.

 

[ch_13]

I don’t know if I agree with that. I mean clearly these people wanted to create something that worked. And they had to ensure that it worked very efficiently and safely otherwise they’d be wasting all the time and effort.

I think the issue is there are no standards to compare to something that doesn’t really exist?

There are plenty of standards and there are industry groups like the American Bureau of Shipping that inspect and certify private subs.

It's just that the CEO just felt they the existing standards and regulations were stifling progress: “There hasn’t been an injury in the commercial sub industry in over 35 years. It’s obscenely safe, because they have all these regulations. But it also hasn’t innovated or grown—because they have all these regulations.”

A Deep Dive Into the Plans to Take Tourists to the 'Titanic'

For a handsome price, a daredevil inventor will bring you aboard his groundbreaking submarine to put eyes on most famous shipwreck of all

www.smithsonianmag.com

OceanGate also felt that independent certification would take too long: "While classing agencies are willing to pursue the certification of new and innovative designs and ideas, they often have a multi-year approval cycle due to a lack of pre-existing standards, especially, for example, in the case of many of OceanGate’s innovations, such as carbon fiber pressure vessels and a real-time (RTM) hull health monitoring system."

OceanGate | Blog | Why Isn't Titan Classed?

OceanGate Inc. is a privately held company that provides manned submersible assets and expertise for commercial, research and military applications.

oceangate.com

 

[tarabull]

I'm not sure if this has been asked before, but I'm wondering what were they using before for communication?

Funny you should ask...
Starlink...

Elon Musk breaks silence on Titanic submarine that reportedly used Starlink internet

The sub disappeared on Monday, sparking a search for the vessel before it runs out of oxygen

www.independent.co.uk

 

[Interested_But_Confused]

There are other manned submersibles capable of descending to the same depths. What makes this one unique is that it’s designed for paying passengers with a single destination rather than underwater research.

I don’t know what modifications the company made to accommodate tourists but thankfully they didn’t have to invent the submersible. Hopefully that means the passengers are safe and will be found before the air is depleted.

https://www.mtsmuv.org/active-manned-submersibles-by-depth

The biggest difference I can see between the Titan and most other deep sea submersibles is the shape of the pressure hull. Most have a spherical pressure hull because a sphere is exceptionally strong; Titan has a tubular pressure hull which is going to be weaker due to simple physics.

The only reason I can think of for a tubular, rather spherical pressure hull, is the ability to carry more "crew" members. A sphere can usually carry no more than 2-3 people.