Race to find Titanic tourist submarine with British billionaire and four others aboard that has vanished

hollydolly said:

Titan sub is like a 'kit car built from Amazon parts': Observers say 'flimsy' vessel uses camping shop lights, 'off the shelf' cameras, salvaged metal pipes for ballast and a Playstation controller - with a comms team in a ship previously traded on eBay​


Chris Parry described the small craft, named Titan, as 'very flimsy and fragile' - as a journalist who once sat inside claimed it features lights from a camping shop, off the shelf CCTV cameras and salvaged metal pipes for ballast.

The sub - which consists of a five-inch thick carbon fibre tube about the size of a minivan with a 22-inch Plexiglas window at one end - is said to be controlled using a modified Playstation controller.

It does not have a GPS system and uses Elon Musk's Starlink to communicate with a communications and tracking team on its mothership, MV Polar Prince, via short text messages.

The sub is meant to communicate with the main ship - which in 2005 was listed on eBay with a reserve price of $1million - every 15 minutes to inform the team of its location.

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There are no seats and only one toilet - a small black box containing Ziploc bags - with a black curtain drawn across and music played for privacy.

However, the company's website recommends 'you restrict your diet before and during the dive to reduce the likelihood that you will need to use the facilities'.

The walls of the sub are heated because conditions can become extremely cold.

It emerged today that Titan reportedly suffered electrical damage and also had to be rebuilt for not being able to withstand the deep ocean before it was eventually able to start carrying wealthy tourists to the site.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12214617/Titanic-sub-like-kit-car-built-Amazon-parts.html
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Do you know who certified that death-trap as a deep-submersible? For tourists, no less. I'm dumbfounded.
 
Murrmurr said:
The sub should have been required to have some type of automatic locator signal on it or in it.

I wonder who certified that craft?
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The missing Titanic submarine "wasn't signed off by a regulatory body" according to a chilling waiver passengers have to sign before entering the vessel.


Passengers previously on board the OceanGate submersible have revealed how they were asked to sign a waiver which admits the vessel has not been verified by a professional regulatory body.


British billionaire Hamish Harding and UK-based father and son Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his son Sulaiman Dawood, 19, were all on board the submersible which was taking paying tourists to view the Titanic, 370 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, when the vessel lost contact on Sunday.


CBS journalist David Pogue, who boarded craft to visit the wreckage of the Titanic last year, said that among the paperwork shown to potential passengers was a waiver which stated: "This experimental vessel has not been approved or certified by any regulatory body, and could result in physical injury, emotional trauma, or death."
said when he boarded the boat which takes passengers to the Titanic, a list is given to passengers which reveals they might not return from the trip.



Mr Reiss said: "To get on the boat that takes you to the Titanic, you sign a a massive wavier that you could die on the trip.


"On the list, they mention death three times on page one and it's never far from your mind. As I was getting on the submarine, this could be the end.
 
sch404 said:
It simply boggles my mind that someone who is smart enough to become a billionaire would not be smart enough to avoid getting on this gimcrack, homebuilt contraption and face almost certain death - sooner or later. In this case sooner..
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Yes, I thought of that, too. I absolutely love history, and have studied the Titanic era with great interest... but I keep thinking that if I'd have a quarter million to spare, it would be feeding a LOT of hungry people and helping the homeless and veterans, my three "love projects"... and not blow it on a quick jaunt to see the Titanic. 😢
 
From what I read (and I forgot where, at this point), there is no regular "door" to open the thing from the inside. Instead, the hatch is secured from the outside with screws, yes, screwed in from the outside. So if, for some reason, it came to the surface, they on the inside would have no way of opening it.

Added: fixed typo -- "secured"
 
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Murrmurr said:
Do you know who certified that death-trap as a deep-submersible? For tourists, no less. I'm dumbfounded.
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Dumbfounded is almost an understatement. It's really hard to believe people would do this.

I heard that the CEO of the submersible company is also on board. Ah, here it is. I haven't read every word posted here so if this has been covered please ignore the link below.

Founder of Everett submersible company reported among those on board missing vessel​

https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/ev...rists-see-titanic/A6PFWPNHIFEJ3A26QZJ7KK7YMY/
 
Devi said:
From what I read (and I forgot where, at this point), there is no regular "door" to open the thing from the inside. Instead, the hatch is secure from the outside with screws, yes, screwed in from the outside. So if, for some reason, it came to the surface, they on the inside would have no way of opening it.
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yes I posted about that above ^^^
 
The company which launched a submersible that has vanished on a mission to the Titanic's wreckage fired a director who raised concerns about its safety and also refused to have the craft independently inspected, DailyMail.com can reveal.

OceanGate bosses fired David Lochridge, who was Director of Marine operations for the Titan project, in 2018 after it disagreed with his demand for more rigorous safety checks on the submersible, including 'testing to prove its integrity'.

The company also opted against having the craft 'classed', an industry-wide practice whereby independent inspectors ensure vessels meet accepted technical standards.

OceanGate, which charges up to $250,000 for a seat on the submersible, suggested that seeking classification could take years and would be 'anathema to rapid innovation'.

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OceanGate bosses fired David Lochridge, who was Director of Marine operations for the Titan project, in 2018 after it disagreed with his demand for more rigorous safety checks on the submersible, which is missing after a mission to the Titanic wreckage
In 2019, OceanGate said seeking classification for Titan would not 'ensure that operators adhere to proper operating procedures and decision-making processes – two areas that are much more important for mitigating risks at sea'.

Classification involves recruiting an independent organization to ensure vessels like ships and submersibles meet industry-wide technical standards. It is a crucial way of ensuring a vessel is fit to operate.

In a blog post titled 'Why Isn't Titan Classed?', OceanGate suggested classification would take too long.

The post said: '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…

'Bringing an outside entity up to speed on every innovation before it is put into real-world testing is anathema to rapid innovation.'

The company said its 'innovations' included a real-time (RTM) hull health monitoring system which is 'not currently covered by any classing agency'.

OceanGate suggested its own in-house safety protocols were sufficient. The blog concluded that 'by itself, classing is not sufficient to ensure safety'.

Lochridge, whose role included overseeing safety on the Titan project, had urged OceanGate to seek classification several years ago, before he was sacked in a disagreement about safety checks on the craft.
 
Ok let me say it - are they actually mad to have done this? To have to be locked into the thing from outside!
The whole thing is madness
sch404 said:
It simply boggles my mind that someone who is smart enough to become a billionaire would not be smart enough to avoid getting on this gimcrack, homebuilt contraption and face almost certain death - sooner or later. In this case sooner..
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Yes, it's insane. I am surprised it has been allowed at all.
 

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