Update: Search Currently Underway as Titanic Scientific Tourist Submersible Goes Missing (Videos)

19 June 2023 — A deep sea submersible used to take people to view the wreck of the Titanic has gone missing in the Atlantic Ocean. The company which organises trips to the wreck, Oceangate Expeditions, has confirmed the deep sea submersible and five crew members are missing.

A marine engineering expert for the media has stated the Titian submersible is designed to do a drop weight in case of emergency which will release a weight mass to bring the submersible up to the surface using buoyancy.

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https://youtu.be/bCDAEF-JVkY

https://youtu.be/3ovGukrSPr0

https://youtu.be/Snx1-rAcqJI

https://youtu.be/qJkDPiyoIgw

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From Wikipedia…

Titan is a 5-person vessel made of carbon fiber and titanium operated by OceanGate, Inc. The vessel is designed to dive to depths up to 4 km (13,000 ft) “for site survey and inspection, research and data collection, film and media production and deep sea testing of hardware and software.” According to OceanGate, it contains “proprietary Real Time Hull Health Monitoring (RTM) systems… which [assess] the integrity of the hull throughout every dive.” The vessel has life support to support five crew members for 96 hours.

Typically onboard each dive are “a pilot, three paying guests and what the company calls a content expert.” Once near the dive site, the descent from the surface to the Titanic typically takes two hours, with the full dive taking approximately eight hours. Throughout the journey, the submersible is intended to communicate with the above-water crew every 15 minutes.

Individuals who travel to the Titanic with OceanGate are referred to as “Mission Specialists” by the company, and spend US$250,000 for an opportunity to be involved in the eight-day expedition.

David Pogue, a reporter who went on the expedition last year, stated all individuals who go aboard the Titan sign a waiver indicating they know it is an “experimental” vessel, “which has not been approved or certified by any regulatory body, and could result in physical injury, disability, emotional trauma or death”.

On June 17, the expedition to Titanic departed from St John’s, Newfoundland, aboard the research and expedition ship MV Polar Prince. On the morning of June 18, the expedition began dive operations and contact was lost about 1 hour and 45 minutes into the dive. The vessel was reported overdue at about 9:13 p.m. according to the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Halifax.

The family of Hamish Harding confirmed he was on the vessel. Also onboard are Stockton Rush, OceanGate, Inc. chief executive and founder, and Paul-Henry Nargeolet, a former French Navy commander and member of the French Institute for Research and Exploitation of the Sea (IFREMER). Nargeolet is “a deep diver and submersible pilot” who is “widely considered the leading authority on the wreck site.” Nargeolet is “director of underwater research for E/M Group and RMS Titanic, Inc.” and “has led several expeditions to the Titanic site and supervised the recovery of 5,000 artifacts.”

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Specifications for the Titan submersible

263.78 in x 110.236 in x 98.425 in (22 feet x 9 feet x 8 feet)
Able to descend to depths of 13,000 feet
Weighs almost 23,000 pounds
Maximum speed of three knots
Powered by four Innerspace 1002 electric thrusters
Uses a Sub C Imaging 4k Rayfin camera, Teledyne 2D sonar, 40,000 lumens of external light and a 2G Robotics laser scanner
Electronics and thruster control pods housed outside the pressure hull
Has toilet on board; offers guests little privacy 

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