Titanic tourist sub goes missing in Atlantic Ocean, sparking search and rescue mission

[Social Media]

A submersible used to take people to view the wreck of the Titanic has gone missing in the Atlantic Ocean, sparking a search and rescue mission.

The Boston Coastguard told the BBC on Monday that an operation to find it was under way.

It is not clear how many people, if any, were on board at the time it went missing.

Small submersibles occasionally take paying tourists and experts to view the wreck of the Titanic.

Multi day trips to the wreck cost tens of thousands of dollars and one dive to Titanic, including both the descent and the ascent, reportedly takes around eight hours.

[Neeranam]

5 minutes ago, Social Media said:

It is not clear how many people, if any, were on board at the time it went missing.

Strange, can it sail by itself?

[KhunLA]

"Titanic tourist submarine holding up to 5 people goes missing in Atlantic Ocean – live updates"

  https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/submarine-missing-titanic-tourist-updates-b2360261.html

Edited June 19, 2023 by KhunLA

[Tug]

Wonder if there’s an asset near by that can operate at those depths near by,if not they are toast most likely dead already or slowly suffocating if it’s hung up or unable to surface oh well to bad……

[Mac Mickmanus]

$250 000 per trip as well 

[Chomper Higgot]

9 minutes ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

$250 000 per trip as well 

That was yesterday’s ticket price.

[Tug]

That vessel must have a transponder on board I’d certainly think so 

[SunnyinBangrak]

2 hours ago, Tug said:

That vessel must have a transponder on board I’d certainly think so 

Not sure if that would work at depth?

[hotchilli]

9 hours ago, Neeranam said:

Strange, can it sail by itself?

Of course it can, not "sail" but propel itself.

Unless it has got hung-up on the wreckage or lost all power... or worse

Flooded.

[Neeranam]

7 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

Of course it can, not "sail" but propel itself.

Unless it has got hung-up on the wreckage or lost all power... or worse

Flooded.

So why don't they know how many people are on board? 

[hotchilli]

3 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

So why don't they know how many people are on board? 

They have confirmed 5 persons on board.

[Hanaguma]

2 hours ago, Tug said:

That vessel must have a transponder on board I’d certainly think so 

I have been reading too much political news. I read that to say "that vessel must have a transgender on board..."

 

Time to get a hobby...

[James105]

You'd think that at $250,000 a ticket for this trip they would at least have a spare sub that can reach the depths they were going to that they take along just in case something like this happens.   

 

Even if you paid me $250,000 to go on this trip I would decline.   The sub cannot be piloted by those on board and it has to be controlled by the 'mothership' on the surface.    All that has to happen is the sub gets snagged on something (as has probably happened here) or loss of communication and it's pretty much game over.  

[KhunLA]

5 hours ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

$250 000 per trip as well 

From an 'unlinkable' news-blip elsewhere:

"After paying $250,000 per person for the trip, the participants would be trained in scientific research and spend eight days at sea. The experience was billed as offering “a chance to step outside of everyday life and discover something truly extraordinary.” The summer 2023 expedition was supposed to be the first of three, with two more planned for June 2024"

25 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

Of course it can, not "sail" but propel itself.

Unless it has got hung-up on the wreckage or lost all power... or worse

Flooded.

Looks to be a 'tethered' craft, so if lost at sea, something major happened obviously.

[Stargeezr]

Well at least 4 of the 5 on board were very rich people. Either it got caught up on something, or had

a pressure failure, it should have been able to re surface. The news I heard on TV said the ballast could 

be jettisoned to let the vehicle resurface. I guess we will know more in the next few days as the news media

get more pictures of this submersible and how it operates. It does look like there would be a pilot on board

to operate the vessel. The big worry is that it got snagged, or had a mechanical failure.

[Social Media]

What we know about the search for the Oceangate submersible

 

 

The Polar Prince arrived near the location of the Titanic wreck in the Atlantic Ocean on Sunday morning. A Facebook post from Hamish Harding, who was on the Titan, said they expected to start the dive in the submersible at 0400 local time.

 

 

The Boston Coast Guard, which is leading the search operation, said on Twitter that the five person crew "submerged Sunday morning, and the crew of the Polar Prince lost contact with them approximately one hour and 45 minutes into the vessel's dive".

The Titan submarine was thought to be approximately 900 miles (1450km) off the coast Cape Cod at the time.

 

The US Coast Guard's Rear Admiral John Mauger said on Monday that it is a challenge to conduct a search in such a remote area.

 

MORE HERE

 

 

[Emdog]

I think of the old joke "What do you call 500 lawyers at the bottom of the ocean?" ANS: "A good start"

Sub (pun intended) "5 rich people" or maybe 4... I feel sorry for whoever had job piloting that can

[thesetat]

4 hours ago, Hanaguma said:

I have been reading too much political news. I read that to say "that vessel must have a transgender on board..."

 

Time to get a hobby...

looks like you half one already

[Hanaguma]

16 minutes ago, thesetat said:

looks like you half one already

Ouch.  That was cold.   ????

[Tongjaw]

4 hours ago, James105 said:

You'd think that at $250,000 a ticket for this trip they would at least have a spare sub that can reach the depths they were going to that they take along just in case something like this happens.   

 

Even if you paid me $250,000 to go on this trip I would decline.   The sub cannot be piloted by those on board and it has to be controlled by the 'mothership' on the surface.    All that has to happen is the sub gets snagged on something (as has probably happened here) or loss of communication and it's pretty much game over.  

The sub is piloted from onboard and it is not attached to the mothership. They communicate with the surface via short text message exchanged via a USBL (ultra-short baseline) acoustic system, downside is the mother ship has to be almost directly above it.

If they had a issue hopefully they managed to jettison the ballast tanks and float to the surface and can be found. Although even if the reach surface they cannot get out as they are bolted in from the outside.

Worst case is they have lost power and snagged or have imploded. 

Wishing the rescue team all the best in their difficult search.

[James105]

2 hours ago, Tongjaw said:

The sub is piloted from onboard and it is not attached to the mothership. They communicate with the surface via short text message exchanged via a USBL (ultra-short baseline) acoustic system, downside is the mother ship has to be almost directly above it.

If they had a issue hopefully they managed to jettison the ballast tanks and float to the surface and can be found. Although even if the reach surface they cannot get out as they are bolted in from the outside.

Worst case is they have lost power and snagged or have imploded. 

Wishing the rescue team all the best in their difficult search.

Ah yes, think I read something where it said it was controlled by the support ship. 

 

That said I still am surprised that considering the vast amount these people were paying ($250,000 per head), there wasn't a second sub that dived with them just in case one lost comms and ran into a problem exactly as this one has.   I'd be properly freaking out by now if I was still alive and stuck 12,500 feet down at the bottom of the ocean in a tiny little craft.  

[Social Media]

 

[BarraMarra]

A mini Sub belonging to Ocean Gate Expeditions has lost contact with its Mother ship during a dive down to the Titanic wreck. The five paying customers are trapped with two days of Air supply left. Contact was lost an hour into the dive. Titanic lies 12,500 ft on the bottom of the Atlantic a two n a half hour trip to the wreck site. No conventional Submarine can dive that deep without imploding due to the pressure at those kinds of depths and only specialist unmanned subs can be used to explore these depths. Even a DSRV can not be used. Sadly the people are trapped will most likely run out of Oxygen before a rescue can be attempted.

[Sandboxer]

Shouldda gone up with Bezos instead.

 

 

[proton]

Probably dead already from an implosion, did not sound very safe to start with.

[chickenslegs]

6 hours ago, James105 said:

I'd be properly freaking out by now if I was still alive and stuck 12,500 feet down at the bottom of the ocean in a tiny little craft.  

The claustrophobic in me is hoping, for their sake, that the craft imploded and they were all killed instantly.

[Mac Mickmanus]

 

   Inside the sub

[still kicking]

15 hours ago, Neeranam said:

So why don't they know how many people are on board? 

There was 5 people on board 

[SpaceKadet]

Yeah, should really have been in the international news section.

 

This is probably a lost cause... They have air for only 4 days, and now is day 3.

 

Read that the entry hatch is bolted from outside. Even if they could surface, they cannot get out without external help.

[still kicking]

All five passengers on board Titanic submarine named | news.com.au — Australia’s leading news site