[RahulNagaraj]

A submersible vessel taking wealthy tourists to visit the site of the Titanic wreckage in deep waters off the coast of Canada went missing on Sunday and remained untraced on the third day even as US and Canadian ships and planes swept a huge area trying to find the vessel.

One pilot and four passengers were on board the submersible, the US Coast Guard told news agency Reuters

The vessel could stay underwater for up to 96 hours, although it was unclear if it had resurfaced but was unable to communicate.

Costly affair.

Those aboard the submersible called Titan, the highlight of a tourist expedition that costs $250,000 per person, included British billionaire Hamish Harding and Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood with his son Suleman.

The 77-year-old French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet and Stockton Rush, founder and CEO of the vessel's US-based operating company OceanGate, were also reported to be on board.

The expedition

The expeditions to the Titanic start in St. John's, Newfoundland, before heading out about 400 miles (640 km) into the Atlantic to the wreckage site, OceanGate's website says.

The latest expedition, which seems to have gone wrong, was the first in 2023 and likely to be the only one for the year because of weather conditions.

Rescue operation

US and Canadian ships and planes began swarming the area on Monday about 900 miles (1,450 km) east of Cape Cod, some dropping sonar buoys that can monitor to a depth of 13,000 feet (3,962 metres).

111 years ago

The wreckage of the Titanic that sank in 1912 after hitting an iceberg lies at about 12,500 feet (3,810 metres).

The British passenger ship sank on its maiden voyage, killing more than 1,500 people, a tragedy that has been immortalised in books and films.

The Titan submersible usually takes two hours to descend to the wreck.

Source: TimesOfIndia

[MiSiMa]

This whole project was sketchy from the beginning.
If I remember correctly, it's viewports' glass was only rated for depth of 1300m instead of 3000m. And you would expect more than required standards when the cost is 250k USD per person

[skanchan95]

Banging sounds heard during Titan search, according to internal US government memo

Sonar picked up banging sounds on Tuesday from underneath the water in the North Atlantic Ocean while searching for a submersible with five people onboard that went missing two days earlier on a dive to the Titanic wreckage, according to an internal US government memo on the search.

Crews detected banging sounds every 30 minutes – and four hours later, after additional sonar devices were deployed, banging was still heard, according to the memo. It was unclear when on Tuesday the banging was heard or for how long, based on the memo obtained by CNN.

“Additional acoustic feedback was heard and will assist in vectoring surface assets and also indicating continued hope of survivors,” a later update reads.

A desperate attempt by those onboard to help SAR efforts? Or something else?

[libranof1987]

Originally Posted by MiSiMa

And you would expect more than required standards when the cost is 250k USD per person

How do you develop standards for something that is being innovated.

Read this on CNN yesterday.

In a 2019 blog post on OceanGate’s website, the company said most marine operations “require that chartered vessels are ‘classed’ by an independent group such as the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), DNV/GL, Lloyd’s Register, or one of the many others.”

This "classing" system ensures vessels are designed and built following regulations such as the number of life rafts or types of materials used.

But the Titan submersible that went missing en route to the Titanic wreck, is not classed, the blog post said.

It said classing innovative designs often requires a multiyear approval process, which gets in the way of rapid innovation.

https://edition.cnn.com/americas/liv...0f45bad672fa2e

--

As mankind pushes the boundaries on what is considered normal, there could be several more such cases. With private space and underwater tourism kicking off, innovation will often be faster than regulation.

If you go through Reddit, there's a significant no. of conversation surrounding why/how many public resources should be spent on excursions by the "billionaire club".

[lapis_lazuli]

How is the insurance managed in these cases involving HNIs and UHNIs? The bulti-billionaire peeps? What sort of disclaimers, indemnification etc. would have been in place? Any ideas?

[GhostGrid]

On Tuesday, banging sounds were recorded in the location where the Titanic-bound submarine carrying five crew members vanished on Sunday.

Banging sounds were heard on Tuesday in the area where the Titanic-bound submarine carrying five crew members disappeared on Sunday, American media is reporting. Internal US Department of Homeland Security memos say the banging sounds could be heard for hours at 30-minute intervals.

Amid the massive search operation, a Canadian aircraft detected banging sounds originating from the area where the submersible disappeared while on its way to view the wreck of the Titanic.

“The PH deployed sonobuoys, which reported a contact in a position close to the distress position. The P8 heard banging sounds in the area every 30 minutes. Four hours later, additional sonar was deployed and banging was still heard.” It is not clear what caused the bangs, but rescuers hope they mean positive news.

SOURCE

[MiSiMa]

It said classing innovative designs often requires a multiyear approval process, which gets in the way of rapid innovation.

That's one way to say we skipped due diligence to comply with tests and regulations for the level of stress that our vessel will have to face in underwater environments, so that we can pocket the saved costs.
But then again everyone knew what they were getting into. Hopefully everyone come out safely.

[V.Narayan]

My deepest sympathies to those stuck in the submersible or maybe they are already dead. A submarine would typically have three parallel systems for every safety related action and each of those would have an independent power source and control system. The power sources would be battery, compressed air bottles, physical human energy operating a lever or valve and in normal circumstances diesel generator derived power. Clearly in this case something failed and either the standby system also failed or did not exist. The fact that this submersible had not been peer reviewed by an independent agency indicates that it might have been a work-in-progress design.

I suppose when you are that rich then buying islands or jets is passe and does not tickle your funny bone and you need something more unique to talk about and post about.

Water becomes dangerous when you underestimate it. Sadly I conclude these 5 travellers have met a sudden death when their capsule imploded at beyond its design depth.

[DicKy]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

If you go through Reddit, there's a significant no. of conversation surrounding why/how many public resources should be spent on excursions by the "billionaire club".

I am getting lots of recommended left leaning, anti capitalist pages in Facebook. Not sure what the algorithm is doing. And I am aghast that all are celebrating it as some form of retribution. Same guys are also hailing the recent orcas/killer whales attacks on boats as nature avenging the rich guys. Somehow small boats have been turned into rich people's yachts in their narration.

[locusjag]

Originally Posted by lapis_lazuli

How is the insurance managed in these cases involving HNIs and UHNIs? The bulti-billionaire peeps? What sort of disclaimers, indemnification etc. would have been in place? Any ideas?

OT:

HNIs in the US and Europe who seek unusually high sum assured amounts in their life insurance quotations (and general insurance quotations) will need to hit up the Specialty Insurance market.

Here's one insurer for example - https://www.gbslife.com/our-expertis...ialty-markets/

Specialty markets exist in life and non-life (General & Health insurance) to cover risks that meet the below criteria:
1) Extremely high exposure amounts - This causes regular insurers to throw their hands up in despair as they simply won't have rates on file to calculate premiums for ridiculously high valued exposures (e.g., HNIs seeking high sum assureds on life insurance, HNIs seeking insurance for their sprawling mansions or expensive art collections etc.)
2) Weird risk profile (e.g., Remember when J.Lo reportedly got her derriere insured? I also remember vaguely that a famous soccer player got his kicking foot/leg insured against the risk of injuries)
3) Highly risky profiles (e.g., Life insurance for F1 car drivers, health insurance for professional wrestlers etc.)

In this case, if any of the rich folks trapped in the submersible have life insurance, their insurer should have ideally Underwritten their policy properly by asking the right questions ("will you guys be doing anything risky?" etc.) because super rich people tend to do some highly risky stuff.

[WorkingGuru]

The Titanic sank & settled pretty deep at 3,800mtrs below sea level. I'm sure there's more to the ride than just seeing the ship itself.

Visit this link for a fascinating deep dive on what you can find in the depths of oceans : https://neal.fun/deep-sea/

[adi.mariner]

I work on a Diving Vessel which carries out subsea inspections, maintenance and repair of the offshore pipelines and structures. All the equipment related to the Diving department is classed by a Classification Society and regular inspections are carried out. All this is done for a system which is rated for a maximum of 300 metres below the sea level. To devise a system for a such a depth (where the Titanic lies) is extra ordinary and needs multiple fail safes to function properly. However it doesn't look so after reading the article. Feel really sorry for the people stuck inside and it is going to be a gruesome ending if not rescued in time (which looks highly unlikely).

[dragracer567]

Originally Posted by skanchan95

A desperate attempt by those onboard to help SAR efforts? Or something else?

If I understand correctly, a French professional diver is among those to embark in the ill-fated craft, so this is possibly a strategy to make sounds at fixed intervals - every 30 mins in this case to alert rescuers combing the seas above for all sorts of sounds. When it's in regular intervals, the rescuers can be sure that it's not just white noise.

Even if they find the craft, rescue would be tricky given most ROVs can't reach these depths. I believe a French ROV is on the way and will reach Wednesday night (Thursday morning for now) but oxygen levels would be desperately low by then - a horrible way to die.

Escapades of the rich aside, I just can't imagine what the families are going through - it would be soul-crushing to lose a loved one without closure.

[sandeepmdas]

Originally Posted by DicKy

Not sure what the algorithm is doing.

Totally agree. It also supplies lots of LOL/ROFL emojis and "expert opinion" about the vessel's helm which is a Playstation 5 controller. Apparently the expert were expecting the F1 racecar steering for the job.

The PS5/Xbox controllers are not junk products and are in fact, designed and engineered by real experts who know what they are doing. These are pretty high-tech gadgets. Ditto is the Yonex Aerosensa shuttle cock, which has the smallest ballistic coefficient and exhibits the largest in-flight deceleration of any airborne sporting implement (2018).

The Xbox controllers were found so reliable, even the USN nuclear subs using them, though not for steerage.

https://www.geekwire.com/2017/u-s-na...ch-submarines/

[V.Narayan]

The submersible is built in a cigar shape instead of a sphere. Plus, it is made of titanium and carbon fibre. Two materials cause their fusion points to become structural risks. Also, a cigar shape is far less able to withstand the bone crushing pressure of 3000 kgs per square inch at 3800 metres, the depth at which the Titanic lies. Further the inventor refused inspections by Lloyds of London or any other regulating agency. All in all a risky affair. No sound of an implosion has been reported yet either. So, we really don't know. It is like searching for a needle in a haystack in pitch darkness. Chances look very very bleak. My sympathy to their near and dear ones, most especially to the mother of the 19-year old in that submersible.

The reason why it was made of two materials is to reduce weight and declare it as the most cost effective way to go down & explore the ocean bottom 4 kms under water!