MovieChat Forums > Titanic (1997) Discussion > Missing sight-seeing submersible.

Missing sight-seeing submersible.

posted a year ago by strntz (11187)
27 replies | jump to latest

By now most of us have heard about the missing sight-seeing submersible submarine diving on the wreck of Titanic.

At that depth, a catastrophic failure of the craft is not unlikely (although there are certainly many other possibilities about why it's gone missing). If the sub experienced a failure of the hull, the passengers would be killed so quickly they wouldn't even know what hit them. It would be that fast.

Hopefully they'll be found alive but right now it looks bleak.

I just read that the sub has a releasable ballast, so that in case of failure, can release it's internal ballast and float to the surface. It might be bobbing on the surface right now but I would think that on the surface, it would be in radio communication.

[–] Otter (24464) a year ago

Sounds like the odds of the people being found alive int he submarine are negligible. A containment failure means instant death, and engine failure and settling on the bottom at depth means... slow death from suffocation. There's no way a tourist submersible has enough air to last for days.

The odds are it's all over except for the search and the lawsuits, and you bet each passenger signed a hell of a waiver.

[–] Where (1354) a year ago

I read they paid $250,000 for a ticket a ride it. I hope, pray they are able to find them and rescue them in time.

[–] strntz (11187) a year ago

I just read it had 90 plus hours of oxygen on board. If the sub stayed intact but settled on the bottom, that's a lousy way to wait out your last hours. A hull failure would be the better option.

[–] Otter (24464) a year ago

You may be right that hull failure is the better option, because there just isn't going to be much rescue available. There are very few vessels equipped to even exist at that depth, and I don't know if there's anything within five thousand miles that's capable of picking up a disabled deep-see submersible and carrying it to the surface, or a cable long enough to haul it all the way to the surface. If they're alive, I don't know that rescue is physically possible.

So you know what I want to happen? I want James Cameron to fly in and involve himself in the rescue effort - no, *really*! His hobby is deep-sea diving in these submersibles, and if anyone on Earth has the money, expertise, and equipment to rescue people trapped thousands of feet down, it's him. Plus, it's his fault for popularizing the wreck in the first place.

[–] strntz (11187) a year ago

I just heard a news blurb that a submersible sub went missing last summer as well and was found! I don't know the particulars about that one and I'm going to grab some shuteye right now. Hopefully there will be good news tomorrow.

[–] Otter (24464) a year ago

Jeez, and people STILL pay a fortune for this 8-hour thrill ride to the bottom of the sea???

Look, I'v`e flown over lava lakes in a helicopter and gone kayaking in Antartica, I am quite willing to risk my life for a bit of adventure. But there's reasonable risk, and then there's throwing your life away for a joyless experience that offers you nothing but bragging rights, like the whole Everest tourist industry.

[–] strntz (11187) a year ago

The Everest thing I don't get one bit. People attempt the climb just to say they did so, but I can imagine viewing the actual Titanic with one's own eyes would be far more amazing than touching the top of Everest and getting the hell back down before your body dies from oxygen deprivation.

[–] Otter (24464) a year ago

Interesting, I'd be more inclined to think that experiencing the peak of Everest would be more worth the trouble than seeing the ruins of the Titanic, but then I wouldn't cross the street to see the ruins of the Titanic. I know the ship has its cultists, but I just don't get the fascination.

If I was ever going to go to the bottom of the sea, it'd be to see a "black smoker" volcanic vent or some way cool nature thing, not a shipwreck.

[–] redban (5412) a year ago

$250k a ticket. No thanks

[–] millsey72 (9745) a year ago

God, save the queen

[–] strntz (11187) a year ago

Lay off Joe mills, he was referring to Dylan Mulvaney...

[–] bozo_500 (12510) a year ago

Wonder if it got too close to the wreckage/became stuck.. In which case probably no way to retrieve it and it'd just stay there as like a warning not to revisit Titanic..

[–] millsey72 (9745) a year ago

There could also be an unknown underwater civilization living near that wreckage and they captured it. They could be charged with spying

[–] [deleted] a year ago

American OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, British billionaire Hamish Harding, French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, and British-Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son.

Let is all pray for the life of the US and the EU citizen. Let's hope they can be rescued. When the superfluous ballast is discarded they could last until Friday late or Saturday early morning. Otherwise it's all over this Thursday late afternoon.

[–] strntz (11187) a year ago

I read that even if they surface, they will be trapped inside without the support team to physically unbolt the hatch to the sub which is done from the outside.

[–] [deleted] a year ago

They will be found but not alive. A grim reminder that money is no replacement for common sense.

[–] bozo_500 (12510) a year ago

There's three options

1 there was rupture or something like three quarter way down they died instantly

2 malfunction/stuck while searching for/looking at wreckage so they down there as 02 running out (but would there even be enough water on board anyway?)

3 they already surfaced which is the only hope they have of being resuced (but same outcome as 2 if no found in time)

[–] [deleted] a year ago

They were murdered for covering up for Trump

[–] bozo_500 (12510) a year ago

I read about a german guy interviewed who went with the same company/CEO guy and the Titanic expert who are both missing now, and he said they actually landed on the Titanic deck! (Its not like anyone there to tell them not to). So maybe that happened again but the deck crumbled away they fell down inside and couldn't escape.. (jesus how eerie/horrible would that be)

[–] strntz (11187) a year ago

I think they lost communication with the sub about an hour short of touchdown, but I also read that lost communication was not uncommon with this particular submersible and maybe they were OK but managed to make it the Titanic.

I can't imagine the horror of realization about dropping through the deck of the ship.

Strange days. As I write this, they have precious few hours left of oxygen assuming the sub is still intact.

[–] UncleRuckis (2593) a year ago

Makes you wonder why in gods name they don't have an emergency beacon installed! For 250 grand a ticket, this seems like a very bare bones operation.

[–] strntz (11187) a year ago

Agree - it's astounding.

I wonder (as air is running out as we speak), is there is a quick method of attaching a hook to this sub? I mean, even if they locate it right now, the time it takes to get some sort of retrieval harness on this thing might be too late.

At least if they had a beacon as you said, they would have found it days ago and had time to formulate some sort of plan to retrieve it.

This sub supposedly had a way to drop it's ballast and surface in case of emergency, but I wonder if there was no way to release the ballast manually in case of power or automation failure.

Bare bones indeed.

[–] FilmQuestions (68) a year ago

Apparently the submersible did not have an emergency locator trasmitter - sometimes called a safety beacon. It may be very difficult to ever find if it did not land close to the Titanic.

[–] strntz (11187) a year ago

I heard on the radio the sub was kind of a mish mash of "off the shelf" parts. Supposedly the control grouping was a video game controller! I wonder what kind of backup systems this sub had available?

[–] UncleRuckis (2593) a year ago

Imagine getting in a sub and see it's being controlled by a Wal-mart Logitech controller!

[–] strntz (11187) a year ago

I had a Logitech keyboard for my Windows PC years ago, and the install disc was full of spyware...

[–] strntz (11187) a year ago

Looks like the worst has come true. They found a debris field that included the missing submersible's landing frame and hatch and have notified the families of the deceased.