In June 2023, a great tragedy occurred. Five people who were on board the Titan submarine died at a depth of about 3,800 meters near the wreckage of the infamous Titanic. As part of the dive, tourists simply wanted to look at the wreckage of the sunken ship, but due to the design flaws of the bathyscaphe, they lost their lives without a single chance of salvation. It is believed that the deep-sea apparatus could not withstand the pressure exerted by the water and collapsed – in professional terms, an implosion occurred. After this accident, the company that owned the bathyscaphe, OceanGate, was harshly criticized. Other organizations that organized excursions to the Titanic were also hit. Despite this, one billionaire recently decided to take a risk and dive again to great depths, but inside another submarine.
Despite the tragedy of 2023, people still want to see the sunken Titanic ” Image source: fishki.net
Underwater vehicle “Titan”
The Titan submersible, developed by OceanGate, has been used for diving since 2021. The length of the structure was 6.7 meters and the width was 2.8 meters. The weight of the structure was approximately 9.5 tons.
The Titan submersible from OceanGate. Image source: 5-tv.ru
The bathyscaphe was used exclusively in international waters because it was not certified. Each person who boarded the vessel signed a document acknowledging the “experimental” status of the device. Many experts were concerned about this invention and warned the heads of the company that the idea could end badly. But the developers said that the restrictions greatly slowed down innovation.
The crash of the Titan bathyscaphe
The deep-sea vessel Titan disappeared on June 18, 2023. There were five people inside:
- Stockton Rush, founder and chief executive of OceanGate;
- Hamish Harding, British businessman and explorer;
- Paul-Henri Narjolet,French deep-sea explorer;
- Shahzada Dawood,British-Pakistani businessman;
- Suleman Dawood, 19-year-old son of Shahzad Dawood.
After losing contact with the device, for some time the rescuers could not understand what had happened. They searched for a long time for the submersible in the hope that everything was fine with the passengers. But the air reserves inside the device were limited, and the chances of their survival became less and less every hour.
People who died during the dive to the Titanic. Image source: highergroundtimes.com
Ultimately, the deep-sea vehicle was found at a depth of about 3,800 meters in a flattened state. All five people inside died. This happened instantly because the body made of carbon fiber could not withstand the pressure and collapsed. Experts believe that the dead clients of the OceanGate company did not even have time to understand that they were dying – everything happened much faster than the human brain is capable of working.
Read also:What happens to the body of a drowned person in the ocean and fresh water
Diving to the Titanic on Triton
According to the scientific publication IFL Science, in the future another expedition will be made to the Titanic on a similar underwater vehicle. Billionaire Larry Connor and Triton Submarines founder Patrick Lahey decided on a risky mission. The idea was born, the billionaire called the entrepreneur and offered to develop a safe bathyscaphe and dive to great depths several times so that people would no longer be afraid of such expeditions.
The exact date of the dive is unknown, but a couple of daredevils want to go to a depth of 3810 meters and see the sunken steamer with their own eyes. They want to use the Triton 4000 deep-sea submersible, which, according to information from the official Triton Submarines website, is capable of diving to a depth of 4000 meters. It was previously used for the documentary series Blue Planet 2 and there were no problems with it. The cost of this submersible is estimated at 20 million dollars.
The news about the sinking of the Titan submarine was very discussed in 2023. We closely followed what was happening and wrote about it in the article “A submarine with people disappeared near the Titanic.” We also have material on the related topic “What is implosion and why the Titanic did not explode like the Titan.” A must read!
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In the end, we are wondering: what do you think about the next dive to the Titanic? Is this a crazy idea, or is the disaster that occurred an isolated accident? Share your opinion in our Telegram chat.