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

OldFeller said:
On one video I watched, a guy said it was safer to go to the moon than it is to get to the Titanic.

I think it's because they planned for every contingency before heading out to the moon.
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This. I heard more people have been in outer space than have dived in a sub on the Titanic.

And this CEO doesn't prioritize experience such as ex military/Navy who do operate on the sea or under the ocean everyday compared to the few expeditions to the Titanic per year.
 

PeppermintPatty said:
Exactly.
This submarine uses an Xbox gaming controller
-Is equipped with only one functioning button
-Has no radar or navigating equipment
-Is considered an experimental vessel, meaning it’s had no approval by any regulatory body
-It failed to meet a set of industrial standards for vessel safety
-Chance of being saved if anything goes wrong are as likely as finding a needle in a haystack

https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianb...ubmersible-that-went-missing/?sh=314ff48c12d9
There’s no chance of me boarding even if it were free.
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"There’s no chance of me boarding even if it were free." I hear THAT Patty❗

Can you imagine the lawsuits from their wealthy families? That company will be wiped out.
 

OneEyedDiva said:
"There’s no chance of me boarding even if it were free." I hear THAT Patty❗

Can you imagine the lawsuits from their wealthy families? That company will be wiped out.
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Did you look at the video? You’ve gotta see the video. It’s at the end of this thread. The size of this thing is a joke. It looks like a high school science project. I’m dumbstruck here. Just why ??? This shouldn’t have been legal to begin with. It’s like a death trap. Even if they made it to the titanic the only way to view it is on a computer screen. There’s probably lots of videos out where you could view it in the comfort of your own home. It’s like a submersible bathroom with one tiny window above the toilet. CRAZY!!!
 
The irony is that this may be a worse way to die than drowning in freezing waters during the Titanic disaster. I can't even imagine suffocating in a tiny metal tube under the sea. I do hope they are found, although chances seem slim at this point.

It is terrible that one of Pakistan's wealthiest men chose to take his 19 year-old son on this excursion. 19 year-olds don't have the ability to make good decisions. They rely on their fathers.

I do have to wonder if something like this happened that didn't involve uber-wealthy people if all these resources would be dedicated to finding them. Re: lawsuits, there were at least 3 fine print waivers that referred to possible death. Also, a passenger who took 4 dives in the Titan said communication was lost each time. How does someone overlook that?

https://www.insider.com/former-titan-passenger-sub-lost-communication-surface-ship-every-time-2023-6
 
seadoug said:
I do have to wonder if something like this happened that didn't involve uber-wealthy people if all these resources would be dedicated to finding them.
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79 migrants dead off the coast of Greece 8 days ago trying to escape the tyranny of their home country and barely a mention in the New York Times yet a few billionaires find out they can’t buy their way out of a disaster on one of the worlds most expensive theme park rides and it’s non-stop news.

How and when did our priorities as humans become so skewed 😖
 
MrPants said:
79 migrants dead off the coast of Greece 8 days ago trying to escape the tyranny of their home country and barely a mention in the New York Times yet a few billionaires find out they can’t buy their way out of a disaster on one of the worlds most expensive theme park rides and it’s non-stop news.

How and when did our priorities as humans become so skewed 😖
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Unfortunately some of these migrant crossings end in tragedy, But there have also been some successful rescues.

https://www.barrons.com/news/france-rescues-63-migrants-from-channel-2dbe21c9

Regardless of motivation they both made choices to take a dangerous journey.
 
I remember touring my first submarine during training and going from compartment to compartment. As I entered the control room and looked over all of the gauges and instruments, I kind of fantasized being 1500 feet underwater, which many subs will use to patrol. That's a far cry from the depth the missing sub is. Even at 1500 feet, you think, the men that get on these things must have a death wish. If I remember correctly and I could be wrong, subs fire their torpedoes and missiles at about 1200 feet.

And although U.S. Navy subs have an escape hatch for the men to get out of the sub, if the sub becomes damaged and cannot surface, there are limits. I think the sub must be in only 500 feet of water. I wished I would have paid better attention to the details.
 
Oxygen on the missing Titanic submersible is expected to run out at Midday today with a 'miracle' now needed to find it in time as banging every 30 minutes is still being heard from the depths but has not been located.

The vessel, named Titan, lost communication with tour operators on Sunday while about 435 miles south of St John's, Newfoundland, during a voyage to the Titanic off the coast of Canada. The last 'ping' of its homing device was heard on Sunday afternoon - directly above the world's most famous seawreck.

A countdown has now begun with the vital oxygen supply expected to run out at 12.08pm GMT (7.08am EST and 9.08pm Sydney).

The great final hope is French research vessel L'Atalante, which arrived in the search zone at around 2am GMT (10pm EST, midday Sydney). It is carrying the Victor 6000 - an unmanned remote controlled robot sub that can reach depths of 20,000ft and will arrive at the Titanic's wreck around two hours once in the water.


Above the Titanic is a flotilla of at least ten ships, two robot subs and several aircraft scanning the Atlantic for any sign of Titan as sonar continues to hear a banging noise from the depths. But the Coastguard has admitted it does not know if it is the five men hammering on the side of their sub or simply the sound of the sea including perhaps debris falling from the Titanic itself at 12,500ft below the surface.

But even if it is discovered it will take many hours to get Titan meaning that the oxygen could run out before they get to the surface. Rescue efforts to find them have continued overnight - and are becoming ever more desperate - with just hours to pinpoint 'banging' from the deep and save them.


...I am sad to say...it's now 10am GMT...they have 2 hours of air left at best... looks like they've all perished now... :(

 
hollydolly said:
...I am sad to say...it's now 10am GMT...they have 2 hours of air left at best... looks like they've all perished now... :(
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I'm having to agree, Holly. No water, low/no oxygen... even if found this very minute, I'm afraid by the time they'd pull it up, it would be too late. This begs the question that if people (if still alive) in those conditions are not in any shape to "bang" every 30 minutes like clockwork, WHAT in the world is doing that banging? And not just regular ocean sounds... like I know the Titanic shifts constantly and makes noises, but not in a pattern!

Anyhow, good morning.... 5:30 a.m. here and I loaded up your thread before checking any news outlet. :sneaky:
 
CallMeKate said:
I'm having to agree, Holly. No water, low/no oxygen... even if found this very minute, I'm afraid by the time they'd pull it up, it would be too late. This begs the question that if people (if still alive) in those conditions are not in any shape to "bang" every 30 minutes like clockwork, WHAT in the world is doing that banging? And not just regular ocean sounds... like I know the Titanic shifts constantly and makes noises, but not in a pattern!

Anyhow, good morning.... 5:30 a.m. here and I loaded up your thread before checking any news outlet. :sneaky:
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Good morning Kate... yes it's something none of the experts are agreeing on.. the banging. Some are saying it doesn't exists, some that it's coming from the shifting titanic which gives out sounds all the time.. and others of course from the Titan. Can't think that it can be coming from the titan.. because if they were banging they wouldn't be doing it in steady 30 minute beats.. they'd be constantly banging for their lives.. not hoping someone would hear it in 30 minutes blasts...

there's 90 minutes of air left if the sub is still in one piece.. according to the experts... IMO if that's the case, then I believe they're already dead. Lack of water, food, and the freezing cold.. :(:(...I'm really upset because all this time, I've been praying they'd be found alive ... it's just a needless tragedy
 
hollydolly said:
if they were banging they wouldn't be doing it in steady 30 minute beats..
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They might, according to the retired submariner in the video @Murrmurr posted banging on the hull every thirty minutes is a standard submariner distress signal. However there seems to be some question as to what was really heard. Not all sources agree that the sounds have been every 30 minutes... or that the sounds were real at all.

Water is a great conductor of sound, particularly under high pressure and low temperatures the deep ocean is full of sounds, and under some conditions can travel thousands of miles. Remember the "pings" reported from MH370.

It seems it's too late now, no matter what the sounds were or were not. And even had the sub been located a couple of days ago it would have been hard to raise it in time. Sadly I am afraid we have a few more to add to the Titanic casualty list...

 
Suffocating is a terrible way to die. As the O2 depletes the amount that was available, they may experience Hypoxia or Syncope. Neither one is a good thing, but they will become confused and may or may not not pass out, but will feel like they are going to. It's a very slow death. The severe confusion may allow them not to realize what is happening to them. This is what happened onboard the plane that Payne Stewart was on before it ran out of fuel and crashed. On Stewart's plane, the NTSB thought everyone onboard had passed out.
 
Been There said:
I missed something. What would cause it to implode?
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At those pressures any small crack or flaw. It happened to the Thresher in much shallower water https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Thresher_(SSN-593)

An implosion creates a lot of sound, if it happened it may have been detected by one of the many military hydrophones set up to track submarines. See for example SOSUS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SOSUS , When USS Thresher sank in 1963, SOSUS helped determine its location. However even if detected the military, which ever one or ones detected it, might keep it secret...
 
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MrPants said:
79 migrants dead off the coast of Greece 8 days ago trying to escape the tyranny of their home country and barely a mention in the New York Times yet a few billionaires find out they can’t buy their way out of a disaster on one of the worlds most expensive theme park rides and it’s non-stop news.

How and when did our priorities as humans become so skewed 😖
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As someone who has followed this incident more than the migrants I'll explain why (in my case.)

1. Unfortunately immigrants drowning as they try to seek refuge in another country is a fairly common tragedy. People in a little submarine is something I have never heard of. So something unusual makes bigger news.
2. We don't know the names or anything about the 79 immigrants, but we know the names, ages, and have seen photos of these five and that immediately makes them more relatable.
3. They did not die quickly like the drowning victims,
but are dying a slow horrible death and yet may possibly be saved, so it is an ongoing news story with continued hope that they can be saved.
4. The only times I can remember watching an event like this so closely were coal miners trapped in West Virginia and a group of Russian navy men trapped in a submarine.

Speaking for myself, the fact that they're billionaires has nothing at all to do with it.
 
Della said:
Speaking for myself, the fact that they're billionaires has nothing at all to do with it.
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Very true, @Della . I also watched that group of boys missing in a cave this closely... and the divers had to go through some terribly small areas to get to them. That was scary, too... and it had seemed hopeless for a while, but I'm afraid that as of this morning, this one has literally *become* hopeless. :cry:
 
Been There said:
I remember touring my first submarine during training and going from compartment to compartment. As I entered the control room and looked over all of the gauges and instruments, I kind of fantasized being 1500 feet underwater, which many subs will use to patrol. That's a far cry from the depth the missing sub is. Even at 1500 feet, you think, the men that get on these things must have a death wish. If I remember correctly and I could be wrong, subs fire their torpedoes and missiles at about 1200 feet.

And although U.S. Navy subs have an escape hatch for the men to get out of the sub, if the sub becomes damaged and cannot surface, there are limits. I think the sub must be in only 500 feet of water. I wished I would have paid better attention to the details.
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I served on a diesel sub in the mid 60's. I didn't have a death wish. Sure, there are risks, like any military service. But, we were trained to know how to handle them. You trust your shipmates to do the right thing.

Once, we picked up some Marines from Camp Pendleton for a practice beach landing. I could see that some of them were nervous, and I didn't blame them. We surfaced and let them off in rubber boats at night. A couple Seals went along as life guards. When they returned, we snagged a line between the boats with our periscope and brought them the back aboard. The only damage was that one of the boats somehow got punctured. I was happy to stay in my nice warm boat.

Our test depth was just 400 ft to the keel. We had a buoy in the forward deck with a line that led to the escape hatch. It could be released if necessary, but it was only good for about 300ft. Theoretically, a rescue ship could lower a diving bell along that line. But, the chance of being stuck in water that shallow is really slim. And, when we were deployed to the far East they welded the buoy to the deck so that it couldn't accidently be released. They also painted over our hull numbers.

I've been in air so thin you couldn't keep a cigarette lit, and I can tell you it is uncomfortable. It's the build up of CO2 that you feel. You can take deep breaths and it doesn't do any good.
 
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MrPants said:
79 migrants dead off the coast of Greece 8 days ago trying to escape the tyranny of their home country and barely a mention in the New York Times yet a few billionaires find out they can’t buy their way out of a disaster on one of the worlds most expensive theme park rides and it’s non-stop news.

How and when did our priorities as humans become so skewed 😖
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I disagree. Had that mini-sub been carrying a handful of common folk and one of their teenage sons, this story would get even more attention, plus outrage instead of just keen interest.

Aside from wishing they'd done something more productive or charitable with their quarter-million, I think the fact that it's a handful of rich people makes this tragedy a bit less bitter.
 
Murrmurr said:
I think the fact that it's a handful of rich people makes this tragedy a bit less bitter.
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Don't feel that way about their wealth, they were still people. However knowing that they were well informed and knew what they were getting into does make it a bit different.

Agree with you about the attention, this one is more about the story than who the people in the sub were.
 

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