The Titanic possibly claims five more victims as contact is lost with a submarine full of tourists

[Bassoe]

Titanic tourist submersible goes missing with search under way

Rescuers are searching for a submersible used to take tourists and experts to view the famous wreck.

www.bbc.com

Submarine on expedition to Titanic wreck missing with 5 aboard; "search and rescue operation" underway

U.S. Coast Guard officials said 5 people were aboard the submersible that lost contact about 400 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, where the Titanic sank in 1912.

www.cbsnews.com

Ships, planes search for sub that went missing on trip to Titanic wreckage

U.S. and Canadian ships and planes searched on Monday for a submarine that went missing more than a day earlier off the coast of southeastern Canada while taking tourists to explore the wreckage of the Titanic, officials said.

www.reuters.com

Missing Submersible: Vessel Disappears During Dive to the Titanic Wreck Site

Five people were in the submersible, which lost contact with a surface vessel on Sunday morning, the Coast Guard said. A search and rescue mission is underway in the North Atlantic.

www.nytimes.com

Billionaire Is on the Missing Titanic Tourist Sub, Stepson Says

Getty ImagesBillionaire Hamish Harding is one of the five people on board the Polar Prince, the missing submersible that was meant to take tourists down to see the Titanic’s shipwreck. Harding’s stepson, Brian Szasz, confirmed the news with posts asking for “thoughts and prayers” on social...

www.yahoo.com

Deep-sea craft carrying 5 people to Titanic wreckage reported missing, search underway

A search is underway for a missing submersible that carries people to view the wreckage of the Titanic. Canadian officials say the five-person submersible was reported overdue Sunday night about 435 miles south of St. John's, Newfoundland. The search is being led by the U.S. Coast Guard. The...

apnews.com

Looking at OceanGate's track record, I think it's safe to assume the passengers are screwed.

Not gonna lie; I was a little nervous, especially given the paperwork, which read, "This experimental vessel has not been approved or certified by any regulatory body, and could result in physical injury, emotional trauma, or death." Where do I sign?

This is not your grandfather's submersible; inside, the sub has about as much room as a minivan. It has one button. "That's it," said Rush. "It should be like an elevator, you know? It shouldn't take a lot of skill."

The Titan is the only five-person sub in the world that can reach Titanic's depth, 2.4 miles below the sea. It's also the only one with a toilet (sort of).

And yet, I couldn't help noticing how many pieces of this sub seemed improvised, with off-the-shelf components. Piloting the craft is run with a video game controller.

Pogue said, "It seems like this submersible has some elements of MacGyver jerry-riggedness. I mean, you're putting construction pipes as ballast."

 

[Bacle]

This is horrifying; this is also why 'commercial tourist trip to see the Titanic wreck' seems like a very stupid idea to begin.

The condition of the sub, if what is being reported is the case...that thing should never have been near the water to begin with.

 

[PsihoKekec]

Given the depth where the contact was lost, their deaths were at least quick.

 

[Free-Stater 101]

Okay first of all @Bassoe I am changing the name of this thread as well as the RIP header to reflect that we have yet to have verification of their deaths.

Now, this is beyond terrifying, the fact that they have 96 Hours of Oxygen from Sunday means they very well be alive even if the margins of rescue are slim, we need to pray for their rescue and safety, not act as if they are already gone.

Yeah, I am an optimist but until the morning of the 21st as unlikely as it is I shall ask that nobody label these poor individuals as dead as Titanic was already a tragedy enough, we should hope it doesn't expand post humorously by a century.

I mean it could be something as simple as comms trouble on the submersible and they are simply unaware that they aren't receiving nor sending messages you can never know.

 

[Buba]

In all cases of "tourists doing something dangerous and needing rescue" I wonder if they should be sent the bill ...

 

[Free-Stater 101]

In all cases of "tourists doing something dangerous and needing rescue" I wonder if they should be sent the bill ...

Don't go blaming the tourist, this isn't vacationing in North Korea level stupidity there are risk involved to consider to be sure, but the odds of this happening weren't presented to them as to be so astronomically high that they should be blamed.

If anyone should it's the company that was conducting tours and given how rich you have to be to buy these tickets, you can bet they will be sued for this by family members.

 

[Sergeant Foley]

Holding out hope they can be found alive.

 

[Sergeant Foley]

Given the depth where the contact was lost, their deaths were at least quick.

How many people were on board of this submersible?

 

[Rocinante]

How many people were on board of this submersible?

It's in the title. There were 5.

Also there's a sietch affairs thread over in NSFW, where I've been trying to have a chat with you, but I'm told you don't check your alerts. If you dont mind popping over there. I would like to get to know you better because for a long time I have thought you were a bot. Let's chat.

 

[Bacle]

A look inside the sub.

Edit: The ballast and how it is dropped is...very jank.

 

[Free-Stater 101]

A look inside the sub.

Edit: The ballast and how it is dropped is...very jank.

I don't want to make a joke at a time like this but don't tell me that this accident involves losing control of the sub to something as stupid as joystick drift..

 

[Bacle]

I don't want to make a joke at a time like this but don't tell me that this accident involves losing control of the sub to something as stupid as joystick drift..

One of the last dives the controller had a glitch that caused it to spin the subs 360 when it was instructed to go forward, just 300 meters from the wreck, and it seems like the source was a glitch in the controller software.

They literally might have had a x or y axis reset/glitch on the controller software mid-dive out of nowhere.

 

[Sobek]

Someone looked into it and the controlled they used is a Logitech off the shelf generic joystick from 2005. Windows 95/98/Me/2000/XP combatible!

They also had a body built with carbon fiber. Which is pretty decent and strong but which can quickly lose strenght if it gets wet. A submarine was built with it. How safe you think the insulation was on that fiber huh? Oh and you can't tell if carbon fiber lost it's strength from looking most of the time you need special diagnostic ultrasound or x-ray shit so mark 1 Eyeball checks would have been worthless unlike on a solid metal thing.

Furthermore the sub also has no way to be opened from the inside. They literally lock you in with the bolts and screws from the outside, meaning even if they got up to the surface they would still die of asphyxiation. And even if they did have a way to open it no life savers much less boats.

These people were playing with fire. If this was a hobby project it would have been fine, but they were charging 250k a pop. No excuses.

They are dead as fuck.

 

[Sergeant Foley]

Someone looked into it and the controlled they used is a Logitech off the shelf generic joystick from 2005. Windows 95/98/Me/2000/XP combatible!

They also had a body built with carbon fiber. Which is pretty decent and strong but which can quickly lose strenght if it gets wet. A submarine was built with it. How safe you think the insulation was on that fiber huh? Oh and you can't tell if carbon fiber lost it's strength from looking most of the time you need special diagnostic ultrasound or x-ray shit so mark 1 Eyeball checks would have been worthless unlike on a solid metal thing.

Furthermore the sub also has no way to be opened from the inside. They literally lock you in with the bolts and screws from the outside, meaning even if they got up to the surface they would still die of asphyxiation. And even if they did have a way to open it no life savers much less boats.

These people were playing with fire. If this was a hobby project it would have been fine, but they were charging 250k a pop. No excuses.

They are dead as fuck.

In other words: They're likely all but gone SMH. I hope you're wrong about this and I am holding out hope the US Coast Guard can find them and soon.

 

[Bacle]

 

[UberIguana]

All indications are this was a Wile E. Coyote grade attempt at a deep sea submersible. Seriously, releasing the ballast by everyone sitting on one side? A cheap gamepad controlling the thing? It worked for them the first few times they tried it, but...

At least at that depth a quick death is much more likely than not.

 

[Sergeant Foley]

All indications are this was a Wile E. Coyote grade attempt at a deep sea submersible. Seriously, releasing the ballast by everyone sitting on one side? A cheap gamepad controlling the thing? It worked for them the first few times they tried it, but...

At least at that depth a quick death is much more likely than not.

You're implying all it took was one fatal mistake to cause this tragedy.

 

[The Whispering Monk]

This was a disaster that was just waiting to happen. So many points of failure on the sub it should have been a junk yard exhibit not plying the waters.

 

[Tiamat]

Sounds like it may have been a hobby project at first, but potential dollars signs turned to greed when someone had the bright idea to use this for actual tours of the wreck and...this was the likely result.

 

[Blasterbot]

I was rather sad when I saw some lefties spew vitriol and at at the victims because of their wealth... Hopes and prayers but if they can't be rescued 96 hours of oxygen is very little and I almost would hope for the rapid depressurization personally.