The lost submarine Titan. Passengers had to sign the consent. Its content raises the hair on the head

. The Boston Coast Guard said a search operation was underway. Titan is an experimental boat that has been trying to approach the wreck of the Titanic since 2017. It was successful for the first time in 2021 and again in 2022. At the end of last year Another 18 expeditions were planned for this summer –

Titan is a bathyscaphe full of contradictions

The expeditions are organized by OceanGate. The cost is 250 thousand. dollars, but there is no guarantee that the wreck will be reached. After the Titan is launched and submerged, the only navigation is text information from the boat on the surface. The entire trip lasts 8 days, during which attempts to submerge are usually made many times. If you don’t manage to see the Titanic, OceanGate offers you another free approach on one of the next expeditions. Scientists also take part in the expedition, e.g. underwater archaeologists or bottom life biologists.

On the tour operator’s website, we learn that the Titan will fit five people, but one seat is reserved for the pilot. OceanGate boasts that it is the lightest boat in its category. It was made of 12 cm thick carbon fiber, and the vehicle was crowned at its ends with two titanium domes, we read in CBS. The bathyscaphe is 6.7 m long, 2.8 m wide and 2.5 m high. On board, despite its small size, there is room for a toilet. However, it would be hard to do without it, because a full immersion, watching the Titanic and returning to the surface takes eight hours. However, life support systems allow you to stay under for 96 hours, and the Titan can descend to a depth of up to 4 km.

In the Titan’s description on the Ocean Gate website, we also read that it was equipped with a modern hull condition monitoring system. The pilot is therefore to receive information about problems in advance, allowing for a safe return to the surface. From the description it would appear that we are dealing with extremely advanced technology. CBS’s David Pogue, however, had a different impression and stated that some things on Titan look home-made. As an example, he gave ballast, which is made of structural pipes. The controls, however, are carried out using a controller for the console. Other than that, there’s only one more button, which is for dipping.

OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush believes the system shouldn’t require much skill from the operator and compared it to an elevator. In addition, according to his words, they worked with Boeing and the University of Washington to develop the technology. At the same time, in order to participate in the expedition, David Pogue had to sign papers that read that “this experimental boat has not been approved or certified by any regulatory authority and its use may result in physical injury, trauma or death.”

Who is missing on Titan?

There are a total of five people aboard the submarine during the current mission. One of them is Shahzada Dawood, a 48-year-old businessman and one of the richest Pakistanis. According to CNN, his 19-year-old son is also with him. The next passenger is Hamish Harding, a 58-year-old billionaire from Great Britain, the general manager of Action Aviation in Dubai. His company made the announcement on social media. According to media reports, the next members of the crew may be: Paul-Henri Nargeolet, a French explorer and expert on the Titanic wreck, and Stockton Rush from OceanGate Expeditions – the company that is responsible for the expedition. The full list of names of people who sailed the submarine has not yet been officially announced.

The submarine went missing on Monday off the coast of North America in the Atlantic Ocean. The crew of five sailed to the wreck of the Titanic. The remains of the ship are found at a depth of 3,800 m on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, about 600 km off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. A search operation is underway. It is still not known exactly where the ship is and what exactly happened.

CNN lists possible reasons for the submarine’s disappearance. One of them may be a failure that contributed to the loss of communication. The expert explained to the American station that a short circuit could start a fire that would not only destroy the ship’s systems, but also pose a serious threat to the entire crew. Other potential threats that a submarine of this type may face are flooding and strong undersea currents.