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Titan submarine for Titanic tourism - Nightmare fuel

12Goblins

Lil’ Gobbie
I heard you look at the wreckage from a screen inside the sub. if that's true, what is the point....

edit: never mind that is false
72330423-12213437-image-a-101_1687274139972.jpg
 
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12Goblins

Lil’ Gobbie
So he's a comrade?! But yes, these dudes are dead, just like that kid that jumped into the ocean from a cruise ship. For the love of God, fellow gaffers, treat the ocean with the reverence it deserves. It's no fucking joke.
I heard in interviews from previous passengers that you are pretty much told a million times that you could die, so everything is done at your own peril
 
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Buggy Loop

Member
Apparently these are the systems for emergencies (if they have not imploded of course)

Triple weights: three lead pipes that can be dropped using hydraulics to gain buoyancy

Roll weights: if the hydraulic systems fail those inside the sub can tilt the sub by moving to each side of it releasing weights held in place on each side by gravity

Ballast bags: motors can be used to release bags full of metal shot hanging beneath the sub

Fusible links: bonds that disintegrate after 16 hours in seawater to drop the ballast bags if the electrics and hydraulics fail

Thrusters: to push it to the surface

Sub’s legs: the pilot can jettison the sub’s legs as dead weight

Airbag: the crew can inflate an airbag to provide buoyancy


The 16 hours ones would have deployed a long time ago.
 

wipeout364

Member
From the details I read, the most shocking thing to me was that they didn't have to answer to any sort of regulatory commission or meet any minimum standard for the vessel itself. Basically it was a DIY project that used an XBOX controller as a steering wheel.
At least they didn’t use a PS5 controller where you can’t even change the battery out.
 

Cyberpunkd

Member
From the details I read, the most shocking thing to me was that they didn't have to answer to any sort of regulatory commission or meet any minimum standard for the vessel itself. Basically it was a DIY project that used an XBOX controller as a steering wheel.

RIP to the passengers and condolences to their families. Ultra-rich or not, it's still very sad.
Best thing - billionaires didn’t make sure what they are getting into is absolutely safe and checked. Money doesn’t buy you brains.
 

Pejo

Gold Member
They are WAAAAY out to sea in international waters. Who would even have jurisdiction? This is basically millionaires and billionaires playing around.
I guess jurisdiction aside, you'd think that they would have certifications on the vessel itself or a rating of how deep/how much pressure it could withstand by some sort of organization or group of experts.
At least they didn’t use a PS5 controller where you can’t even change the battery out.
Imagine the stick drift knocking you into an iceberg though....
Best thing - billionaires didn’t make sure what they are getting into is absolutely safe and checked. Money doesn’t buy you brains.
This is true. One of the downsides to being a tiny fraction of the populous doing this kind of thing. No plebians or lemmings going ahead of you to work out the issues.
 
People really underestimate how scary and absolutely harsh deep sea is. We will be living on Mars before we have any routine access to the bottom of the ocean.
Deep Sea is harsh when you get your vessel components from Target and Walmart.

There was a team that dived down to the Marian Trench in the 60's and there's been plenty more successful dives since to the deepest parts of the ocean. Pretty sure those guys used robust equipment to get there.
 

Buggy Loop

Member

The tourist submersible that went missing during an Atlantic dive to the Titanic wreckage had previously shown signs of “cyclic fatigue” to its hull that caused three previous voyages to be scrapped. Tests previously conducted on the Titan sub found it’s hull’s depth rating had to be reduced to around 9,800 feet – 3,000 metres – which is not deep enough to reach the 111-year-old shipwreck of the Titanic, which sits on the bed of the ocean at about 12,500 feet – 3,800 metres.

Wow, sign me in!

Ill Be Back Jim Carrey GIF
 
In terms of reasons why these super wealthy passengers decided to do this - they're probably bored, have already seen or stayed at the greatest places in the world, have already made all the money themselves/future generations need, and they wanted some "exciting" fulfillment.

Personally, I would've taken a trip to the moon
 
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Submersible experts wrote to OceanGate CEO expressing concern​

The New York Times has unearthed a 2018 letter sent by submersible experts to Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate.
The authors of the letter expressed "unanimous concern" over the approach taken by OceanGate when building the Titan and warned of potential "catastrophic" issues with its design.
They also said OceanGate was making "misleading" claims about its design exceeding established industry safety standards and urged Rush to institute a prototype testing program reviewed and witnessed by an accredited registrar.
"It is our unanimous view that this validation process by a third-party is a critical component in the safeguards that protect all submersible occupants," the letter read.
The NYT said a spokesperson for OceanGate declined to comment



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Well then, I guess some people have more money than sense. Why would you (as a billionaire) want to get into such a vessel. If someone's pulling out an Xbox controller to steer the ship, I'm getting the fuck outta there.
 
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StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
Sounds like the sub is shit, but the company couldnt resist the money regardless of safety concerns.

If the trip to the Titanic was $250 per person, I'd bet they'd hold off. But at $250,000, it's worth the risk. At first when I read the articles, I thought it was $250,000 for 5 people (so $50k each). Turns out it's a quarter million each.

So the guy running the show had $1.25 million dollars dangling in his face to do a deep dive.
 

Days like these...

Have a Blessed Day

Submersible experts wrote to OceanGate CEO expressing concern​

The New York Times has unearthed a 2018 letter sent by submersible experts to Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate.
The authors of the letter expressed "unanimous concern" over the approach taken by OceanGate when building the Titan and warned of potential "catastrophic" issues with its design.
They also said OceanGate was making "misleading" claims about its design exceeding established industry safety standards and urged Rush to institute a prototype testing program reviewed and witnessed by an accredited registrar.
"It is our unanimous view that this validation process by a third-party is a critical component in the safeguards that protect all submersible occupants," the letter read.
The NYT said a spokesperson for OceanGate declined to comment



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Well then, I guess some people have more money than sense. Why would you (as a billionaire) want to get into such a vessel. If someone's pulling out an Xbox controller to steer the ship, I'm getting the fuck outta there.
So how does this work? I mean I can't build a bus and decide to drive it without getting pulled over and probably thrown in jail. Aren't there laws/regulations that should have prevented this?
 
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StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
So how does this work? I mean I can't build a bus and decide to drive it without getting pulled over and probably thrown in jail. Aren't there laws/regulations that should have prevented this?
I was thinking the same earlier, but was too lazy to post or google it. Road vehicles go through extensive testing and approvals.

But when it comes to watercraft, anyone can build something, sell tickets and take it for a spin assuming it works?
 
So how does this work? I mean I can't build a bus and decide to drive it without getting pulled over and probably thrown in jail. Aren't there laws/regulations that should have prevented this?
Good question and one would think there would be regulations in place to ensure safety standards are met. But you're not meeting shit if you're whipping out an old xbox controller to steer this fucking thing.

Us gamers we know controllers can have stick drift. What if opening/closing the hatch was assigned to L2 and the controller has trigger spring issues ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
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Buggy Loop

Member
So how does this work? I mean I can't build a bus and decide to drive it without getting pulled over and probably thrown in jail. Aren't there laws/regulations that should have prevented this?

Probably too niche and without consequence over international waters to enforce anything, so it's probably the wild west.

A bit the same with space related stuffs, although a lot more regulated because of airspace being a very busy area rather than the depths of ocean, but still, remember this guy?



He died

But still, WTF, there's so many ways for this to go wrong and kill civilians
 

simpatico

Member
This is as good a thread as any to tell everyone that they should play Iron Lung. Best submarine cerebral horror game of all time.
 

SiteSeer

Member
This is as good a thread as any to tell everyone that they should play Iron Lung. Best submarine cerebral horror game of all time.
its a fun game, very short but that's not the point. the experience is worth the few bucks. also don't look at anything before playing, go in clean sheet.

also rip these explorers.
 

Sleepwalker

Member
Sounds like the sub is shit, but the company couldnt resist the money regardless of safety concerns.

If the trip to the Titanic was $250 per person, I'd bet they'd hold off. But at $250,000, it's worth the risk. At first when I read the articles, I thought it was $250,000 for 5 people (so $50k each). Turns out it's a quarter million each.

So the guy running the show had $1.25 million dollars dangling in his face to do a deep dive.

$1mill, hes one of the 5 missing.

I was thinking the same earlier, but was too lazy to post or google it. Road vehicles go through extensive testing and approvals.

But when it comes to watercraft, anyone can build something, sell tickets and take it for a spin assuming it works?

No one has jurisdiction over international waters so it is very hard to enforce any kind of regulations.
 

Buggy Loop

Member

At the meeting Lochridge discovered why he had been denied access to the viewport information from the Engineering department—the viewport at the forward of the submersible was only built to a certified pressure of 1,300 meters, although OceanGate intended to take passengers down to depths of 4,000 meters. Lochridge learned that the viewport manufacturer would only certify to a depth of 1,300 meters due to experimental design of the viewport supplied by OceanGate, which was out of the Pressure Vessels for Human Occupancy (“PVHO”) standards. OceanGate refused to pay for the manufacturer to build a viewport that would meet the required depth of 4,000 meters.

Doc Rivers Reaction GIF


Holy shit, it keeps getting dumber and dumber
 

Buggy Loop

Member
What's crazier is that this is apparently not the first time they did a tour like this? how the fuck did they even survive the other times?

Roll the dice

From same article :

Lochridge was particularly concerned about “non-destructive testing performed on the hull of the Titan” but he was “repeatedly told that no scan of the hull or Bond Line could be done to check for delaminations, porosity and voids of sufficient adhesion of the glue being used due to the thickness of the hull.” He was also told there was no such equipment that could conduct a test like that.

Given the prevalent flaws in the previously tested 1/3 scale model, and the visible flaws in the carbon end samples for the Titan, Lochridge again stressed the potential danger to passengers of the Titan as the submersible reached extreme depths. The constant pressure cycling weakens existing flaws resulting in large tears of the carbon.
 

Days like these...

Have a Blessed Day

badblue

Gold Member
From same article : Lochridge was particularly concerned about “non-destructive testing performed on the hull of the Titan” but he was “repeatedly told that no scan of the hull or Bond Line could be done to check for delaminations, porosity and voids of sufficient adhesion of the glue being used due to the thickness of the hull.” He was also told there was no such equipment that could conduct a test like that.

Me: "How thick was the shell that NDT couldn't be used?" to "Oh it's carbon fiber..."

According to the company, the Titan weighs some 23,000lbs (10,432kg) and has an aerospace-standard five-inch (13cm) thick carbon fibre hull reinforced with two domed titanium end caps.

I get that carbon fiber stronger then steel but that doesn't seem to matter if “no scan of the hull or Bond Line could be done to check for delaminations, porosity and voids of sufficient adhesion of the glue being used due to the thickness of the hull” and you're planning to head down to 390 time atmospheric pressure.

Maybe it's just me thinking it but if you can't properly test the material maybe don't use it for a submarine meant to go to the bottom of the ocean?

Just googling around and carbon fiber is more expensive then steel to boot. Why the fuck was it used?
 



Doc Rivers Reaction GIF


Holy shit, it keeps getting dumber and dumber

Yup then ask yourself how a billionaire (which I'm going to assume is a smart person since they're that rich) payed that much money to get into a literal steel coffin that's bolted them inside, has no distress beacon or any backup plan of any sort if something were to go wrong and steered with an Xbox controller.

Fuck me, that Xbox controller bit always gets me. How, just how are you putting your life in the hands of a vessel controlled by a videogame pad.

Roll the dice

From same article :

That thing imploded for sure. It would have been a quick death but the people that need to recover that thing (if its found) are going to need some intense counselling. What is it the size of a mini van with the remains of 5 people in there. Fuck.
 
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Rush2112

Member
sounds like they went too deep and got crushed. Rip.

Now I’m gonna talk shit: You’d think someone who can cough up a quarter million dollars on a whim would actually be smart enough to research this shit before putting their life into someone else’s hands.
 
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Holy Shit...This 20 year US Navy submarine veteran says they are all dead. The sub imploded. Its was all over on Sunday morning


Watch at 1.25x speed




- He goes over all the tragic flaws in the design of the sub like the carbon fiber hull that can shatter like porcelain
- The corners the CEO and team cut on electronics, safety and support systems
- Risk of too much oxygen in the cabin causing fire like Apollo 1, a possible toxic gas build up scenario
- Eviscerates the Oceangate CEO for being a douche who wanted young people on the team with no sub exp and chose to use a SMS over radio communication because he didn't want to be disturbed wtf



It makes sense since the topside crew did not alert the coastguard for over 12 hours after comms were lost. They knew it was all over. JFC!


pD767AP.png
 
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