The company involved is notorious for its flaws, with a US submarine implosion: the controller turned out to be a game controller modified into a submarine | Deep Sea | Company
The submarine Titan, carrying five tourists and originally planned to explore the wreckage of the Titanic, has been lost in the North Atlantic for several days. Early this morning, there was finally new news about the Titan submersible, but it was not good news.
According to Xinhua News Agency, the US Coast Guard announced on the 22nd that a catastrophic implosion occurred near the sinking site of a US deep-sea submersible that went missing while inspecting the wreckage of the Titanic cruise ship, resulting in the death of all five crew members.
Deep sea submersible experienced an implosion, with 5 crew members killed
According to reports, this expedition was organized by the American Ocean Gate Exploration Company. The company's Titan submersible sank in the sea about 1450 kilometers east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts on the 18th, and was lost approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes after departure. Aircraft and ships from countries such as the United States and Canada have been conducting large-scale search and rescue operations in the North Atlantic Ocean in recent days.
At the press conference, officials from the US Coast Guard said on the 22nd that the underwater environment is extremely harsh and complex. Search and rescue personnel used remote-controlled detectors to discover broken parts of five deep submersibles not far from the wreckage of the Titanic. By comparing multiple pieces of wreckage, the search and rescue team confirmed that this was the missing Titan submersible. The location of the wreckage is approximately 1600 feet from the bow of the Titanic. It is currently difficult to determine the time of the explosion of the deep submersible.
Ocean Gate Exploration Company issued a statement on the same day confirming that the crew of the deep-sea submersible unfortunately died. The five deceased were Stockton Rush, CEO of Ocean Gate Exploration Company, Hamish Harding, a British explorer, Shahzada Daud and his son Suleiman, a businessman with dual Pakistani and British citizenship, and Paul Henry Narjole, a French explorer.
US Navy Lieutenant Colonel John Mauger also stated that efforts will be made to gather more information and search for the bodies of the victims regarding the time, cause, and what exactly happened to the submarine accident.
Major Mauger confirmed that the medical team and most of the ships involved in the search and rescue will withdraw within the next 24 hours, leaving behind a remote operation team to continue searching the seabed.
The wreckage site of the sinking of the Titanic is approximately 3800 meters above sea level. It is reported that at such a deep seabed, all objects are subjected to a pressure of about 40 megapascals, which is approximately 390 times that on the ground. The Titan submersible is designed to have a diving depth of up to 4000 meters and can carry up to one pilot and four tourists.
Major Mauger revealed the location of the wreckage site of the Titanic that the Coast Guard had been monitoring the entire water area and had not detected any "catastrophic events". The sound detected by the sonar earlier was not related to such situations.
Yingfu Hao: The deep-sea submersible controller is a modified version of the game controller
According to reports, the lost submarine is the Titan submersible of Ocean Gate, which is the size of a truck and can accommodate 5 people. It is usually equipped with an emergency oxygen supply for about 4 days. It is reported that the ticket price for this 8-day sightseeing trip is 250000 US dollars, and it can dive to a depth of 3800 meters from the wreckage.
According to the official website of "Ocean Gate", even people without diving experience can participate in this project. According to the official introduction, participants in the project only need to demonstrate basic physical strength, such as climbing a 6-foot ladder and being able to move 20 pounds of objects.
A few years before the loss of the submersible, experts from within the "Ocean Gate" company, as well as deep-sea explorers and oceanographers, had warned that the related projects posed potential risks and could lead to catastrophic consequences. And the company's legal and operational advisor, David Cannon, also mentioned in a document submitted to the US District Court that the Titan encountered battery technology issues in 2021.
According to reports, Chris Brown, another billionaire who intended to participate in this project with British billionaire Hamish, discovered after paying a deposit that the remote control used to operate the submersible was actually modified using a game controller. He was worried that the submersible would be "cut corners". Due to safety concerns, Chris ultimately chose to abandon the project and requested a refund.
David Bogg, a technology columnist who has participated in the exploration and sightseeing project of the Titanic, said that he signed a warning document before boarding, stating that the Titan was "experimental" and had not yet been "approved" or certified by any regulatory agency, which could cause injury or even death to personnel.
According to reports, in February this year, a couple from Florida filed a lawsuit against Stockton, claiming that their company had broken its promise and refused to refund the fees previously paid by the two without fulfilling their promise. It is reported that the two were originally scheduled to take the Titan to participate in the Titanic exploration and sightseeing activities in 2018, but this trip was delayed several times by the company. The company explained that more tests were needed on the Titan. The couple claimed that Stockton did not refund as agreed, but instead invited them to participate in the Titanic exploration and sightseeing trip in July 2021.
The company involved has received multiple security complaints and warnings
Previously, people had raised doubts about the safety of the Titan and the professionalism of its subsidiary, Ocean Gate.
Ocean Gate Company stated that the Titan has conducted over 50 diving tests, including at depths similar to the Titanic in deep waters and pressure chambers near the Bahamas. But several years before the disappearance of the Titan, Ocean Gate had received multiple safety complaints and warnings.
According to court documents, during an expedition in 2022, "Ocean Gate" reported that its submarine encountered battery failure during diving and had to manually reconnect to the lifting platform.
CBS reported that the ship lost contact with the surface crew for nearly 5 hours during a diving mission while he was observing and reporting on the mission. The report points out that the waiver letter from Titan passengers clearly states that the submersible has not yet received any regulatory approval or certification.
In addition, according to a lawsuit record in 2018, former maritime operations director of "Ocean Gate", Lokrich, pointed out in 2015 that the "Titan", which was still in the development process at the time, had serious safety hazards, and the company's testing and certification were insufficient, which would "lead to passengers facing extreme danger in experimental submersibles.".
According to CCTV News, Alan Estrada, a travel blogger from Mexico's social media "YouTube", appeared on the Titan in July last year. According to his description in an interview on the 21st local time, it was an "extremely dangerous" experience: he had to sign a "life and death certificate" from the beginning, and even lost contact during the diving process.
On the 21st local time, Will Corning, Chairman of the Manned Underwater Vehicles Committee of the Maritime Technology Society, confirmed in an interview that "Ocean Gate" has always refused to allow the Titan to undergo third-party professional certification. He himself wrote a letter to the founder of "Ocean Gate" five years ago regarding this, and the industry is generally concerned about the reliability of this submersible.
Rush, the founder of Ocean Gate, stated in a 2019 interview that regulations in the commercial submarine industry have hindered its progress. "Because of these regulations, it is super safe," Rush said, "but at the same time, it also loses innovation or progress.". Rush himself was also in the lost Titan.
On June 22nd, Ocean Gate Exploration Company confirmed in a statement that five crew members of the submersible had unfortunately died, stating that these individuals were true explorers with a unique spirit of adventure and a strong passion for exploring and protecting the world's oceans. At this sad moment, our hearts are with every member of their family, mourning the passing of their lives.
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