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Titan submersible implosion

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41°43′32″N 49°56′49″W / 41.72556°N 49.94694°W / 41.72556; -49.94694

2023 Titan submersible incident
Map of the ocean to the southeast of Newfoundland, with a line from St. John's to the location of the Titanic wreck 400 nautical miles southeast. Label near Newfoundland: "June 16: Departure from St. John's, in Newfoundland, aboard the MV Polar Prince. Label near Titanic wreck: "June 18: The expedition arrives at the area where RMS Titanic sank. The Titan begins descent. Contact is later lost."
Map of the route taken by the expedition
Date18 June 2023 – present
LocationNorth Atlantic, near the wreck of the Titanic
ParticipantsOceanGate Expeditions
OutcomeSubmersible missing, search and rescue operation underway
Missing5

On 18 June 2023, the submersible Titan operated by OceanGate Expeditions went missing in the North Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. The submersible was on a tourist expedition to view the wreck of the Titanic, with five people on board (British-Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman; British billionaire Hamish Harding; French maritime expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet; and founder and CEO of OceanGate Stockton Rush). Communication was lost with the submersible one hour and 45 minutes into its dive at the wreck site, and authorities were notified when it did not resurface at its scheduled time later that day.[1][2] The craft's four-day breathable air supply was expected to be exhausted in the morning of 22 June 2023.[3]

Background

Titanic

Main article: Wreck of the Titanic
Further information: Sinking of the Titanic

The Titanic was a British ocean liner that sank in the North Atlantic on 15 April 1912 after colliding with an iceberg. In 1985, the wreckage was discovered on the ocean floor around 400 nautical miles (740 km) from the coast of Newfoundland.[4] The wreck lies at a depth of about 3,810 metres (12,500 feet; 2,080 fathoms).[5] The ship has a significant place in public interest and culture.

Titan submersible

See also: OceanGate, Inc. § Titan

Titan is a five-person submersible vessel operated by OceanGate, Inc., and according to the company is designed to dive as deep as 4,000 m (13,000 ft) "for site survey and inspection, research and data collection, film and media production, and deepsea testing of hardware and software".[6]

A picture of Logitech F710, the game controller used aboard the Titan
Logitech F710, the game controller used aboard the Titan

The 22-foot-long (6.7 m) vessel is constructed from carbon fibre and titanium.[6] Its steering controls consist of a Logitech G F710 (a wireless PC game controller) with modified analog sticks.[7][8][9] According to OceanGate, the vessel contains monitoring systems to continuously monitor the strength of the hull.[6] The vessel has life support to support five crew members for 96 hours.[6] In June 2023, OceanGate tweeted that Internet access from SpaceX's Starlink satellite system was being used to support an expedition to the Titanic.[10][11][12]

Titanic expeditions

Typically, each dive has a pilot, three paying passengers, and a guide on board.[1] Once these people are inside the submersible, the hatch is bolted shut and must be reopened from the outside.[13] The descent from the surface to the Titanic typically takes three hours,[14] with the full dive taking approximately eight hours.[1] Throughout the journey, the submersible is expected to emit a safety ping every 15 minutes to be monitored by the above-water crew.[4] The vessel and surface crew can also communicate via short text messages.[15]

Customers who travel to the Titanic with OceanGate, referred to as "mission specialists" by the company,[16] spend US$250,000 to be involved in the eight-day expedition.[1][17]

Technology writer and reporter David Pogue, who completed the expedition in 2022 as part of a CBS News Sunday Morning feature,[18] stated that all passengers who enter the Titan sign a waiver confirming their knowledge that it is an "experimental" vessel "that has not been approved or certified by any regulatory body, and could result in physical injury, disability, emotional trauma or death".[19] Television producer Mike Reiss, who has also completed the expedition, noted that the waiver "mention[s] death three times on page one."[20]

OceanGate intended to conduct multiple expeditions to the Titanic in 2023, but because of poor weather in Newfoundland, the company has only launched a single expedition so far in 2023.[1][14]

Prior concerns

In 2018, the Marine Technology Society wrote a letter to OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush expressing "unanimous concern regarding the development of "'TITAN' and the planned Titanic Expedition", indicating that the "current experimental approach ... could result in negative outcomes (from minor to catastrophic) that would have serious consequences for everyone in the industry".[21] A signatory of the letter later told The New York Times that Rush had called him after reading it to tell him that he believed industry standards were stifling innovation.[22]

Also in 2018, a former OceanGate submersible pilot and director of marine operations filed a lawsuit claiming he had been wrongfully terminated for bringing up concerns about the Titan's ability to safely operate at extreme depths, stating the vessel — specifically the transparent viewport on its forward end — was only certified to reach a depth of 1,300 m (4,300 ft), only a third of the depth required to reach the Titanic.[23] OceanGate sued him separately for allegedly disclosing confidential information. OceanGate and the former employee settled a few months later.[23]

The following year, an article published in Smithsonian magazine referred to Rush as a "daredevil inventor".[24] In the article, Rush is described as having said the U.S. Passenger Vessel Safety Act of 1993 "needlessly prioritized passenger safety over commercial innovation".[24][25]

The Titan has made three expeditions to the Titanic wreck site, the first of which was in July 2021.[26] In 2022, reporter David Pogue was onboard the surface ship when communication to the Titan was lost during a dive.[27] Pogue's December 2022 report for CBS Sunday Morning, which questioned Titan's safety, went viral on social media after the submersible again lost contact with its support ship in June 2023.[28] In the report, Pogue commented to Rush that "it seems like this submersible has some elements of MacGyvery jerry-rigged-ness". He noted that a $30 Logitech F710 Bluetooth game controller with modified control sticks is used to steer and pitch the submersible, and that construction pipes were used as ballast.[29]

In a 2022 dive to the Titanic, one of the thrusters on the Titan was accidentally installed backwards and the submersible started spinning in circles when trying to move forward near the sea floor. As documented by the BBC documentary Take Me to Titanic, the issue was bypassed by steering while holding the game controller sideways.[30][31] According to November 2022 court filings, OceanGate reported that in a 2022 dive the submersible suffered from battery issues and as a result had to be manually attached to a lifting platform, causing damage to external components.[32][33]

Incident

Timeline of events

Map
Starting point of the Polar Prince (1) and destination in the area of the wreck of the Titanic, where contact with Titan was lost (2)
The MV Polar Prince transported Titan and the expedition's crew to the dive site above the wreck of the Titanic.

On 16 June, the expedition to the Titanic departed from St. John's, Newfoundland, aboard the research and expedition ship MV Polar Prince. The ship arrived at the dive site on 17 June, and the dive operation began the following day on 18 June at 9:00 ADT.[16] For the first hour and a half of the descent, the Titan communicated with the Polar Prince every 15 minutes, but communication stopped after a recorded communication at 11:47 ADT.[16] The vessel was expected to resurface at 18:10 ADT.[16] Authorities were notified about the incident at 18:35 ADT.[16] The submersible had up to 96 hours of breathable air supply for its five passengers when it set out,[26] which was estimated to expire in the morning of 22 June 2023.[3]

Many errors could have occurred. One possibility is that the Titan's communication equipment may have failed, meaning they cannot communicate with the surface crew but can freely navigate. It is also possible there is a problem with the ballast system, which is responsible for managing the vessel's buoyancy. Another scenario is that the Titan became snared, or fouled, on a piece of debris, preventing ascent.[34] It may also have suffered damage or a mechanical failure that caused the submersible to implode, which would likely have killed the occupants instantly.[35][3]

People aboard

Search-and-rescue operations

The United States Coast Guard, United States Navy, and Canadian Coast Guard are leading the search-and-rescue efforts.[40] Aircraft from the Royal Canadian Air Force and United States Air National Guard are also assisting in the search.[41][42]

The search has two facets: a surface search and an underwater sonar search.[19]

19 June

Crews from the Northeast Sector of the United States Coast Guard, based in Boston, launched search missions 900 nautical miles (1,700 km) from the shore of Cape Cod, Massachusetts.[43][44] Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Halifax reported that a Royal Canadian Air Force Lockheed CP-140 Aurora aircraft and CCGS Kopit Hopson 1752 are participating in the search in response to a request for assistance by the Maritime Rescue Coordination Center in Boston made on 18 June at 21:13 ADT.[41][45]

The U.S. Coast Guard has indicated that the search-and-rescue mission is difficult because of the remote location, but Rear Admiral John Mauger has stated that they are "deploying all available assets".[17] Beyond the difficulty in reaching the location, all search-and-rescue operations are impacted by "weather conditions, the lack of light at night, the state of the sea and water temperature".[34] While many submersibles are equipped "with an acoustic device, often called a pinger, which emits sounds that can be detected underwater by rescuers", it is unclear whether the Titan has such a device.[34]

The search involved three C-130 Hercules aircraft, two from the United States and one from Canada;[19][37]: 4  a P-8 Poseidon aircraft from the United States and sonar buoys.[46] Neither country has underwater vessels capable of easily assisting in the search-and-rescue missions.[34] The U.S. Navy has one submarine rescue vehicle, although the vessel cannot reach the Titan's potential depth. The Navy also has remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROVs), but these vessels may not arrive at the site in time.[34] Search and rescue was also impacted by low visibility weather conditions, which cleared on Tuesday.[47]

20 June

The pipe-laying ship Deep Energy, operated by TechnipFMC, arrived on site on 20 June 2023 with two ROVs and other equipment suited to the seabed depths in the area.[48] As of 10:15 ADT, the U.S. Coast Guard had searched 10,000 square miles (26,000 km2).[49] Later in the day, the U.S. Navy announced they were sending experts and a Flyaway Deep Ocean Salvage System (FADOSS) ship lift system, which is designed to lift large and heavy objects from the deep sea.[50] The support was expected to arrive Tuesday evening.[50] An Air National Guard C-130 also joined in the search and rescue mission, with plans for two more to join by the end of the day.[42]

The U.S. Coast Guard reported that additional ships and ROVs were en route to assist with the search: CCGS John Cabot, CCGS Ann Harvey, CCGS Terry Fox, CCGS Atlantic Merlin (ROV), MV Horizon Arctic, Commercial Vessel Skandi Vinland (ROV), French Research Vessel L'Atalante (ROV), and HMCS Glace Bay. Glace Bay carries medical personnel and a mobile decompression chamber.[40]

According to an internal American government memo, a Canadian CP-140's sonar picked up banging sounds while searching for the submersible.[51] The U.S. Coast Guard officially acknowledged the noise early the following morning, but reported that early investigations had not yielded results.[51]

Reactions

Parks Stephenson, director of the USS Kidd Veterans Museum and Titanic researcher, commented on the disappearance of the Titan via Facebook: "No matter what you may read in the coming hours, all that is truly known at this time is that communications with the submersible have been lost and that is unusual enough to warrant the most serious consideration." He added: "I am most concerned about the souls aboard, whose identities have not yet been made public."[52] Stephenson is experienced in deep-sea explorations such as the Titan's schedule, having previously dived to view the Titanic on five occasions.[52][53] Stephenson later added that the divers "wouldn't be out there if it wasn't for the public demand for information regarding this wreck".[54]

See also

References

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  2. ^ Regan, Helen; Yeung, Jessie; Renton, Adam; Said-Moorhouse, Lauren; Upright, Ed; Hayes, Mike; Hammond, Elise; Powell, Tori B.; Vera, Amir (20 June 2023). "June 20, 2023 Missing Titanic sub search news". CNN. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
  3. ^ a b c "The Titan submersible: What it is, what might have gone wrong and what's being done to find it". AP News. 20 June 2023. Archived from the original on 20 June 2023. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
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  8. ^ Gault, Matthew (20 June 2023). "Why Did the Missing Titanic Sub Use a $40 Video Game Controller?". VICE. Archived from the original on 20 June 2023. Retrieved 20 June 2023. Gamepads are so good at controlling things, that the U.S. military frequently uses them.
  9. ^ Gach, Ethan (20 June 2023). "Why The Missing Titanic Tourist Sub Has Everyone Talking About A Cheap Old Gaming Controller". Kotaku. Archived from the original on 20 June 2023. Retrieved 20 June 2023. The Titan was shown to be operated with a Logitech G Wireless Gamepad F710 at times in the past
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  44. ^ Halifax JRCC CCCOS [@hfxjrcc] (19 June 2023). "JRCC Halifax has tasked one Royal Canadian Air Force Aurora aircraft out of 14 Wing Greenwood in Nova Scotia for aerial search, and Canadian Coast Guard Vessel Kopit Hopson 1752 will also be assisting MRCC Boston with a surface search for the submersible" (Tweet). Retrieved 19 June 2023 – via Twitter.
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  46. ^ "Visibility for aerial search has improved today, Coast Guard official says". CNN. 20 June 2023. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
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  48. ^ United States Coast Guard [@USCGNortheast] (20 June 2023). "#Update A Canadian Aircraft P3 Aurora has arrived on scene to conduct sonar searches. The R/V Polar Prince and R/V Deep Energy are continuing their surface searches. Total search area completed as of this morning is 10,000 SQ miles. #Titanic" (Tweet). Retrieved 20 June 2023 – via Twitter.
  49. ^ a b Britzky, Haley; Liebermann, Oren (20 June 2023). "US Navy sending experts and deep ocean salvage system to aid in submersible search". CNN. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
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