"Depth of Danger: The OceanGate Incident"
Titan Submarine
By Swapnil NipungePublished 2 years ago • 6 min read
Photo by Thomas Haas on Unsplash
- Titan submarine started its journey from the Saint John port, Canada. The location where it had to dive in the ocean. is located in the North Atlantic Ocean, 700 km away from the Saint John. Beneath the cold waters, lies the shipwreck of Titanic in the depths of ocean. This journey was initiated on Saturday, 17th June 2023. And according to the plan, Titan was to be launched at 8 o'clock in the morning on next day, Sunday. Let me tell you here that an issue was noticed before the dive. Despite that, decision was made to lower it into ocean at risk of one's life. What was issue and why risk taken despite knowing potential danger?
- Hamish Harding, the founder of Ocean Aviation, was one of the five passengers. He had gone to space alongside Jeff Bezos. The second is Stockton Rush, a former CEO of the American company underwater Gate that offers submersibles for underwater tourism. Paul-Henri, a 77-year-old who had previously visited the Titanic, came in third. He was an authority on shipwrecks and was well-versed in the fragments of the Titanic. Finally, the business tycoon from Pakistan Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman shared a submarine. Hamish Harding posted his final online post on June 17th, just before the dive. He said that their dive had been postponed because of the bitter cold, but that we would still go diving the following morning when the weather was warmer. To indulge their enthusiasm, these five individuals traveled to the famed Titanic wreck. After it sank in 1912, search attempts went on for the following few years. The severe circumstances of the Atlantic Ocean, however, made this effort more difficult. The R.M.S. Titanic's wreckage was eventually discovered on the ocean floor in 1985. It was time to uncover the answers to the many unanswered questions that the Titanic had left behind. There were numerous trips planned when specialists and researchers from various nations investigated the Titanic shipwreck.
- James Cameron, a Canadian filmmaker, conducted numerous tours to the Titanic shipwreck beginning in 1995. The Titanic movie was then released in 1997. The success of the Titanic film concluded what was yet unfinished. It caused such a sensation that millions of people now themselves have the desire to visit the Titanic's wreckage. It indicates that this accomplishment has expanded beyond study to include tourism at the shipwreck site. It is stated that traveling to the bottom of the ocean presents greater difficulties than going into space. The pressure of the water is the main cause of this.
- At a depth of 4 kilometers, or 4,000 meters, the Titanic shipwreck is located. If you want to visualize this depth, look at Burj Khalifa and realize that the Titanic's wreck is approximately five times lower in the water than its height. 5,800 PSI is the water pressure at this depth. This would be the same pressure, but it wouldn't apply to a person's complete body. But a full elephant could only be placed on a surface of 1 square inch. Now that you know how much pressure will be applied to a submarine, you can estimate how many square inches it will have.
- Well, the submarine voyage began at noon on Sunday, June 18, 2023. The mother ship "Polar Prince," which was waiting above, lost touch with the submarine after an hour and forty-five minutes. Normally, it takes around two hours to reach the Titanic. Losing communication only fifteen minutes earlier suggests that the submarine had already reached the Titanic pretty near if it was intended to take two hours to get there. At this oceanic depth, sunlight is unable to penetrate. And the darkness is usually very, very severe here. The wireless signal breaking at such a depth is typical.
- As a result, this issue wasn't first treated seriously enough. The journey took seven hours in total from 12 p.m. until 7 p.m., they were required to return. The crew on board the mother ship, however, began to worry when there was still no communication with Titan by seven o'clock in the evening and they had not returned. At 9:40 a.m., the Canadian research vessel Polar Prince began its search for Titan and requested assistance from the US Coast Guard. On Monday, the next day, US and Canadian ships and aircraft launched a serious search effort throughout the region.
- With the use of sonar scanning, they resumed their search not only on the water's surface but also underneath it. Commercial ships in the region were also told to keep a close eye on things. The hunt went on for the following two days, but Titan was nowhere to be seen. There was, nevertheless, a gleam of optimism. The search team noticed some noises coming from the bottom of the water on Wednesday, June 21, at around six in the morning. Underwater radars were used to pick up on these sounds. ROVs were immediately dispatched towards the location of the sound, but Titan was still unheard of this time. The worry that Titan would be lost forever was now intensifying since the submarine only had enough oxygen for 96 hours, or four days. Then, three of the four days had already passed.
- However, the search teams from the US, Canada, and France persisted. At 12 o'clock on June 22nd, ROVs were dispatched to the Titanic's wreck. It was a heartbreaking sight to see what was there. Part of the Titanic's tail was discovered resting just 1,600 feet from the Titanic by the ROV that had reached the Titanic's debris at 3:48 PM. Whoever travelled to witness the Titanic's debris is now reading about its own wreckage in the news around the globe. Simply put, this indicates that the submarine was unable to sustain the pressure of the water and collapsed into the ocean's depths. The globe was shocked by this news. The security of OceanGate was the subject of numerous inquiries. Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate, perished in this tragedy. He acknowledged that he had breached certain regulations while creating Titan in 2021. Because he manufactured the Titan out of aviation grade carbon fiber rather than steel. However, he wanted to introduce some fresh ideas to the sector, which is why carbon fiber was chosen in place of steel. Titan was tested at pressures between 5,000 and 10,000 PSI for the first time prior to launch, and it passed.
- However, according to specialists, submarines are impacted by thousands of distinct pressures. where there is not just pressure but also water flow brought about by waves. It's also possible that the submarine was struck by a large rock or other aquatic monster because it was so dark. Whatever the case, Titan's carbon fiber hull was a contributing factor in its destruction. However, the fact that it already had cracks was another factor. Yes, Karl Stanley, a businessman, was aboard the Titan submarine in 2019. Additionally, the CEO of OceanGate was in charge of running it at the time. When they were descending on the voyage, according to Karl, he could hear the Titan's hull splitting. At one point, Karl, I was even able to steer the submarine into deeper water thanks to the stronger cracking sound. He didn't pay much attention to that sound at the moment since he had complete faith in OceanGate's CEO, who had personally designed the submarine. However, he told CNN after the incident that the noise might have been a warning that the Titan's body could not sustain the water pressure. If this is the case, there is no question that Titan's hull had been beginning to break earlier. An OceanGate executive voiced opposition to Titan's carbon fiber body in 2018. They predicted that this problem would only become apparent just before the submarine exploded, and in fact, that's exactly what happened. Experts estimate that it would have taken Titan only approximately 0.3 seconds to collapse at the depth where it did.
About the Creator
Swapnil Nipunge
Greetings, I'm Swapnil Nipunge, the face behind fastfreenews.com. As an avid blogger, I'm on a mission to serve you the latest scoops in the most delightful way possible. Join me in staying informed and entertained at the same time.
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