Fascination Still Alive....!
On 18th June 2023, 'Titan', a submersible manufactured by the 'OceanGate Company' did set out on an expedition in the deep waters of the Atlantic to view the wrecks of the 'Great Titanic Ship' that submerged in the waters way back in 1912. It has been more than a century since that disaster but discussions around it seem to be never-ending.
Once what was a disaster has become a means of recreation for some billionaires. It is still fascinating to many explorers.
The expedition of 'Titan' has been regarded as an extreme form of adventure tourism. Thrill attached, this expedition was highly very expensive as well as it had to travel to the deepest layers of the ocean bed somewhere around 13,000 feet where lie the debris of that once 'gigantic and unsinkable ship'.
Precisely, the remains of Titanic lie at 3,810 meters below the sea level.
Imagining the Frightening Titanic Depths:
Washington Post has provided a description that shall help us understand the entire depth structure -
"The iceberg that collided with the Titanic was 100 feet above the surface of the water and several times that underwater. 130 feet is the maximum depth that recreational scuba divers can go to while scuba diving. After 650 feet, a twilight zone area starts where only a small amount of light can penetrate the depths of the water. 1,600 feet was the depth of the deepest-ever underwater rescue operation conducted till date. 2,600 feet is the depth where giant squids swim which seem like alien creatures and very scary. Further down, after 3,800 feet, a midnight zone starts. No sunlight reaches below this mark. Everything goes black after this. The water is extremely chilling here. Around 12,500 feet, here is the ocean floor where the Titanic wreck is lying. Huge pressure exists at such levels."
Difference between Submarine and Submersible:
Okay, readers! I know many of you must be confused between the difference of 'Submarine' and 'Submersible' respectively. Let's smash that lock first to better unfold the entire thing.
A Submersible is an underwater craft which needs to be transported and supported by a surface vessel or platform. To put it simply, submersibles need a 'support ship' on surface both at the time of its launching into the waters and at re-surfacing.
This very thing distinguishes submersibles from submarines.
Submarines are self-supporting and capable of independent operations. They are known as subs in short.
Mothership of Titan:
So, for our 'Titan' Submersible, 'Polar Prince' a support ship on the surface which helped to maintain communication was there with the submersible when inside waters. Polar Prince is a Canadian vessel that flagged the 'mothership' of Titan submersible. After every 15 minutes, the submersible was required to send a signal to this support ship to report that everything was right and safe.
Place of Expedition:
The expedition was launched in that very same area where the Titanic sank hundred years ago. It sank in the area of a Canadian island, Newfoundland, some 450 kilometers off the coast of Canada in the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean.
Management of Expedition:
- The expedition was managed by OceanGate Company and his CEO, Stockton Rush. An aerospace engineer found this company in 2009. Its website describes itself as 'an ocean exploration venture focused on providing crewed submersible services to enable researchers and explorers to access the oceans vast resources. It plans to introduce innovations and also targets to lower the costs of explorations. According to the company, submersibles can be used to carry out 'real-time sampling, collecting and experimentation and deep-sea filming.'
- The company started to offer tours in the Titanic regions since July 2021. It has carried out successful expedition in areas such as Azores and Bahamas.
- Other Submersibles by OceanGate such as 'Antipodes' and 'Cyclops' are also there which can cover depths such as 304 meters and 500 meters respectively. But, while to cover huge depths of 4,000 meters, depth where Titanic is located, Titan submersible was only designed in such a way that it cut out for the expedition.
Structural and Morphological Characteristics of Titan:
- Titan is not a very big submersible. It's more of a van-shaped size. Not more than 5 people could accommodate in it. It had a 'Viewport' made of glass to act as a type of transparency to see through a wall to view the outside of the ship.
- The main body (Hull) of the submersible was made of carbon fibre and titanium caps were attached to its parts. The length of it was 69 meters and the weight was 10,400 kg. Electric thrusters were also equipped to help maneuver a boat sideways rather than forwards or backwards. It gives them more maneuverability for special tasks. Entire submersible was run through a video game controller. Its normal to use them as US Navy also uses 'X-box controllers' in submarines. There were no seats in the submersible except a toilet.
- GPS facilities fail to work at such huge depths. Still, a text-massaging system could continue. OceanGate revealed that it was using the 'Starlink Satellite Internet Services'. Confirmation on this is still not guaranteed.
Remains and Disintegration of the Titanic:
Only the bow and the stern of the ship remains which is still decaying and is expected that ship could be completely gone as soon as 2030.
The Journey towards Doom: Beginnings:
And there when the Titan began its journey, it was expected to reach Titanic depths by a period of two hours.
For around 1 hour and 45 minutes, the contact between the submersible and the mothership was maintained. And thereafter, signal was lost.
The crew members on the Titan thought that everything was fine and the vessel would return around 4:30 pm on the same day as per the expected duration.
The submersible even if would have gotten stuck in the water could save itself by removing the ballasts. Earlier, ballasts were stones or simply heavy weights. Now, water ballasts are used which help a submarine descend downward easily. It provides stability to big ships.
Titan had this feature that it could unwind it's ballasts and with that removed, the submersible would reverse its direction and would start moving upward.
All these possibilities soon turned into bleak prospects.
Time passed, still, there was no sign and now the members at Polar Prince got worried and by 7:10 pm, decided to inform the US Coast Guard and that began a new research.
Critical Multinational Search Operation:
- A critical and a massive multi-national operation started to find about the missing submersible. Within 4 days, the search operation had to be completed anyhow as the oxygen supply in the submersible was to sustain only for 4 days. Subsequently, an immediate and a large-scale operation followed. Various aircrafts, ships and robots joined the search operation. Countries joined hands together to find the submersible and people were just keeping their fingers crossed.
- The search efforts were conducted by various agencies such as the US Coast Guard, the Canadian Guard and the US Navy, alongside other governmental bodies and private entities. The cost incurred would be of millions of dollars. Racing against a critical 96-hour time frame, search teams desperately scoured the depths, aiming to locate and rescue the occupants before their oxygen supplies were depleted. A search area of 25,000 km^2 was difficult to be covered in such a limited time bracket.
- Many of the American and Canadian aircraft had deployed 'SONAR' technique that uses sound propagation to navigate or measure distances. Some reportedly picked up banging sounds from underneath the water. It seemed as if someone was 'knocking the door'. Later, many more sounds were heard but they were not described as 'banging'. Multiple theories have been proposed but it is difficult to discern the source of those notices. Ocean is a very complex place. Jeff Karson, Professor at Syracuse University told that the noise may be a complicated echo that came from souds that bounced around the Titan debris field. It's like dropping a marble into a tin can. It's rattling around and that would confuse the location. Marine wildlife like whales could have also made those noises. At that moment.. hearing these sounds was 'encouraging' that the five people on board were still alive.
'We understand that you would be looking for us and this is how you might expect us to react.' - Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV's) continued the research. These are basically robotic aircraft which are controlled from surface and they made all efforts to detect the submersible. After the disaster took place, these ROVs continued research in order to gain evidence so as to shed light on the circumstances leading to the disaster.
- An emergency locator called 'Emergency Position-Indicating Radiobeacon' which could have helped in detecting the location of the submersible but that was absent in Titan.
- Titan if by any chance would have resurfaced but the passengers wouldn't have been alive as the door was bolted from the outside and it could not be opened by the passengers inside.
On 22nd June 2023, a ROV encountered some debris around the ocean floor somewhere close to 490 meters away from Titan's bow and that confirmed that that submersible had been devastated and all five of the passengers were no more.
Some reports reveal that some five pieces of debris from the submersible were found close to the Titanic.
Later, it was announced by the US Coast Guard that those banging noises had to do nothing with the Titan submersible.
Victims of the Tragedy:
The five people died out of the Titan wreck.
'These men were true explorers who shared a spirit of adventure and had a deep passion for exploring the world's oceans.'
The OceanGate Company released a statement,
'Our hearts are with these five souls and every member of their families during this tragic time.'
The passengers included British businessman Hamish Harding, Pakistani investor Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet and OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush.
Here's what we know about them:
- Hamish Harding: An adventurer and a Guinness World Record holder for the fastest flight around both the Earth's Poles in 2019. He additionally broke another Guinness World Record for the longest duration at a full ocean depth in Mariana Trench. He was also a part of a space orbital flight by the company of Jeff Bezos that happened last year.
- Paul-Henri Nargeolet:- Known as 'Mr. Titanic' for his expertise in the ship, spent 22 years in the French Navy as a commander. He completed 37 dives in a submersible to the Titanic shipwreck. He was the director of underwater research for RMS Titanic Inc., a company dedicated to preserving the history of the Titanic.
- Shahzada Dawood:- Vice Chairman of Engro, a Pakistani energy investment company. He served on various boards and institutes. He is survived by his wife, Christine, and his daughter, Alina.
- Suleman Dawood:- The 19-year-old Suleman, a college student was the son of Shahzada Dawood. He had recently completed his first year as a business major from the University of Scotland.
- Stockton Rush:- A British businessman, founded OceanGate in 2009 and served as CEO in the organization. He oversaw the development of submersibles that would be able to travel up to 20,000 feet below the ocean's surface. His role is very important when it comes to the understanding of this disaster.
Catastrophic Implosion of Titan:
Implosion means an instance of something collapsing violently inwards. It should not be confused with an explosion.
Due to huge pressure at those depth levels, the submersible imploded and the passengers would have died in a millisecond so much so that they could not have even experienced the pain of death.
Comments on this Tragedy & Controversies Associated:
- The main body of the submersible was made of carbon fibre instead of steel, titanium, and aluminum. After the submergence of Titan, many reports revealed that carbon fibres are not best suited when it comes to resilience. Titanium caps or the Great Titan are till date not that ravaged. The latter assertion has been made by the movie director of Titanic movie, James Cameron. Clearly, safety regulations were not followed.
- Robert Ballad, the discoverer of Titanic in 1985 commented, 'In all of the explorations made so far, we never lost a vessel or a vehicle.'
- In a Smithsonian Magazine, Stockton Rush is said to have remarked that, 'US Passenger Vessel Safety Act of 1993 was needlessly prioritizing human safety over commercial innovation.'
- Stockton Rush exclaimed that, 'Safety is just pure waste. If you just want to be safe, don't get out of bed, don't get in your car, don't do anything. At some point, you're going to take some risk, and it is really a risk-reward question.'
- OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush said in 2021, he knew, he'd 'broken some rules' by making the Titan submersible out of carbon fibre and not pure metal. You're remembered for the rules you break. I think I've broken them with logic and good engineering behind me.
- In January, 2018, OceanGate's Director of Marine Operations, David Lochridge entered into a legal battle with Stockton Rush. Later, he was fired for questioning the safety of the Titan submersible. He had doubts regarding the design and the hull. He was accused of sharing the company's confidential details and was removed as per a report that claimed him to be a 'whistleblower'. The lawsuit was finally settled in November 2018. Although the vessel was made with safety measures, the risks were revealed to all the passengers.
- Some 37 people including industry leaders, deep explorers and oceanographers wrote a letter to Stockton Rush warning him about the catastrophic outcomes. In his race to the Titanic, he was mirroring the famous catch cry: She is unsinkable', and we all know now that 'History repeated itself'.
- Stockton Rush's name has been added to the list of people who were killed by their own inventions. His name can be checked at the Wikipedia page by searching the same tab.
What Happens to Human Body at Titanic Depths?
Titan submersible faced 'catastrophic implosion'. We discussed a lot about what must have happened to the submersible.
But what would it have been like for the passengers?
- At sea level, the air that surrounds us presses down on our bodies and that increases the pressure.
- Objects at that depth experience a phenomenal force which is equivalent to a large elephant on every inch of the body.
- The whole implosion would have been a matter of milliseconds and milliseconds of terror.
- Passengers must have entered into a state of trauma. The imploding bubble of the submersible generates intense heat due to adiabatic compression which is a heat-generating compression process that occurs in games under extreme pressure. This heat would vaporize flesh and bone. The passengers would already be dead due to the massive bodily trauma by the time the heat wave hits.
- A human's reaction to pain depends on the transmission of signals from our peripheral nervous system to our brain. Once the signals reach the brain, we feel pain. This process is not instantaneous. However, sharp, sudden pain can be perceived slightly faster at around 0.01 seconds.
- Paul White, Professor from England remarked, 'They would have known nothing - the minute this body of water hit them, they would have been dead.'
Titan Tragedy - What we learn?
- Money should be valued and respected: This story is not only a nightmare but also a lesson about how much money really matters. No matter, these passengers were billionaires but when things go wrong..it doesn't matters who you are. Money could not buy 'air' for them when they were trapped in a capsule at the bottom of the Atlantic.
- Double Standards of Society: The Atlantic swallowing the five passengers of Titan cannot be undone. All we can do is hold compassion for the deceased. But this disaster of five passengers dying in the darkness of the Atlantic is just going to top the media stories. Mainstream communication will use to feed more fascination.
- Social and Collective Demise: We people have gone extremely futuristic and we are really not able to choose our destination. Here and there, many vessels keep on drowning and we are just unaware of the dangers and the plight of the people. Neither the richest nor the poorest shall survive the adventure.
- Society needs courageous naysayers: David Lochridge was dismissed when he did not pass a green signal for the submersible. It is exemplary of many areas of life: don't spoil anyone's mood, don't get anyone upset, and don't come up with tricky solutions. This Tragedy has shown that it is not worth staying silent for the sake of peace.
- Without adventures, humanity goes nowhere: With this one disaster, people should not get fearful of adventures of tourism as it is only the risk takers or visionaries that only take us forward.
- Safety as first Priority: The person must stay to carry forward the personhood. Discoveries will only be surfaced when the discoverer will remain alive. To ensure this, proper safety and certification standards must be followed and safety should be prioritized first.
- At Own Risk: Trip to the wreck of the Titanic was definitely not a cheap affair. Passengers have to sign a document that states that the sub is an experimental vessel and that has not been approved by any government and may result in physical injury, disability or trauma, etc. Until this, this had no deterrent effect, so powerful is the appeal of the Titanic.
Conclusion:
The submersion of the submersible 'Titan' close to 'The Giant Titanic' maybe a matter of serendipity. Both 'Titan' and 'Titanic' ended on a similar track in the Atlantic Waters. The dark, deep, and horrifying Atlantics have swallowed the vessels and many passengers. The huge telecast of 1912 re-appeared as a new trailer in 2023, though in a similar setting. Humans are superior creatures of this world but this nightmare reminded us again that nature is still supreme.
'Lies at the ocean floor, the debris of the Titanic and the Titan roars.
Unsinkable, unsinkable, and unsinkable to only
Sink deeper, deeper, and even deeper.
As if the Dead Titanic had invited the Titan...
To dine in the darkness of the ocean- bed, to ultimately find their way to their death- bed.'
~ A Tribute to the Deceased Passengers of the Titan Submersible Disaster.
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