Missing Titanic Submarine

What a nightmare for them. I couldn’t face doing something like that, but what an awful thought that they may not be rescued.

I can’t believe that anyone would pay all that money for a trip to the bottom of an ocean in a tiny ‘coffin’ For me it would like others have said a complete and utter no no I too would be totally claustrophobic
Just because you have more money than you know what to do with why would you ? I just don’t get it
I can understand climbing a mountain or swimming the channel but I can see how some would want to conquer something like that but to view a wreck at the bottom of the ocean in a tiny enclose capsule I just don’t get it at all
Some people have more money than they know what to do with it

My first reaction was to think of all those poor people on the boat that sank in Greek waters last week. I think it was estimated that 750 people were on board with all the women and children trapped below deck. I suppose that death for those people would have been quite quick whereas the poor souls on the submersible will die more slowly.

Can’t think of anything worse, you couldn't pay me enough to do it and think it’s stupid to try it. Think the company involved should meet the rescue costs if hopefully they can be rescued, It worries me enormously those ordinary working putting their lives in danger to rescue them, however at the moment there’s people in a nightmare scenario and the ethics can wait a while.

It sounds unbelievable, doesn't it, mazzie66, but yes, I can believe that.

Callistemon

My brother served on diesel and nuclear powered submarines. I remember going down to Gosport for Families Day one summer and being allowed a visit onboard, unbelievably pokey! Not fir me!

You’re right about the non communication while the sub was at sea. A submariner my brother served with lost his wife very suddenly whilst he was deployed and the funeral was over and done by the time the sub returned to port and his very young children were in the care of their grandparents.

This was during the Cold War era and even the sailors didn’t know where they were going when they out to sea!

DH was once trapped underwater in a mini-sub for 24 hours, but in the English Channel and as the result of changing weather conditions, making a delay in retrieval necessary. DH was acting for the insurance company and inspecting the damage to a ship that had gone down, capsized or sank or something.

I received that phone call. The one that goes 'Hello M0nica, I do not want to worry you, but......

The main problem was that a tv company seemed to have got wind of the problem and they needed to let me know before I saw it on tv. Once the patch of bad weather passed over the submarine was raised. DH said when the crew on the ship opened the hatch, they stood a long way back, the pong of 4 men holed up in a minisub for 24 hours was horrendous.

I once went years ago to a Cocktail party on a British Submarine.
Omg couldn't wait to get off very claustrophobic, it was a smelly Diesel boat (All de commission now)
I imagine this submersible is similar but without the smell. The thought they won't get out is frightning, makes me shudder.

I keep thing of the phrase

"you pays your money and you takes your chances"

It must be so mentally tough to have nothing much to aim for and therefore the excitement comes from taking a very big risk, rather than the mundane like saving for furniture or a new coat

Horrific, I can’t even imagine it

M0nica

Freya I am sorry you interpreted my post the way you did. My intention was the opposite. To show how regardless of origins and purpose, wealth or poverty, fate treats us all the same.

Since you needed everything spelled out, once on/in the water, the lives of these people and the fates they face/d are the same and they are equally dependent on the skill and humanitarian aid of others.

Where you see division I see humanity brought together in the fates they face and their dependency on others

Good that you cleared that up, M0nica, as I can see how your juxtaposition of "very rich men on a vanity trip" with "people fleeing from misery and poverty" could be misinterpreted as divisive. That's certainly the initial impression I gained, so thanks for the clarification. I don't hold out much hope for those poor souls trapped in that submersible, one of whom is a teenager. I almost wish that there had been a catastrophic, instantaneous failure , which I feel would be preferable to a long, slow awful demise in that tiny space. Certainly the stuff of nightmares. God knows what the family and friends must be going through.

I’m trying not to think about it. I can understand people climbing mountains but anything that involves going underground or under water terrifies me. I had a friend who died pot holing.

BigBertha1

What Monica said.

Load of people deployed to look for them putting their lives in danger.

That is their choice too, because they are those kind of people, brave, courageous and altruistic.

The passengers had to sign a waiver, so presumably thought if they got into difficulties they could not expect people to put their own lives in danger to save them.

Someone who's been on board the OceanGate submersible before is CBS journalist David Pogue, who recounted his own experience on board the sub after being invited aboard

He reported that among the paperwork shown to potential passengers was a waiver which said: "This experimental vessel has not been approved or certified by any regulatory body, and could result in physical injury, emotional trauma, or death."

What Monica said.

Load of people deployed to look for them putting their lives in danger.

Doesn't look promising. I wonder what regulatory standards the submersible had to attain. Some people are adventurous, some are foolhardy - in the latter case I'm thinking of mountain walkers who fail to check the weather forecast and set out ill-equipped and then call on rescuers.

Another thing I’ve learned today is that the craft can only be opened from crew on the outside as it’s bolted shut by 15 special bolts. Therefore, if they are floating on the surface, waiting to be found they will still run out of oxygen.

I just keep thinking about them and what they must be thinking and facing. Let’s hope for a miracle.

I agree that the Titanic is a grave and should never be used as a tourist attraction. 1500 souls who died horribly that dreadful night lie in or around this wreck and it should be left in peace. However, the people in this submersible are in terrible danger and whatever we think, no one deserves that. I for certain would never want to go in a submarine let alone a submersible, the channel tunnel is bad enough, 2 miles under the North Atlantic? Oh my goodness NO! I hope they can be recovered, but it doesn't look good.

tickingbird

I believe that locating them is only the beginning. Getting them back to the surface might be impossible. One of the difficulties is that they are a long way from land and too far for helicopters and the special equipment needed to help them. Ships are on the way but time is of the essence.

Maybe the Titanic should be left alone now.

There was an expert on Sky News a few minutes ago saying exactly this. He said that even if they could locate them, the problem is getting them back to the surface because they are so far down that specialist vehicles and equipment are required, which will be hard to come by and relocate in time. He also said that there is a ‘ping’ that the submersible sends back every 15 minutes to indicate that all is well. That the ping stopped, indicates a sudden event. If, god forbid, there has been an implosion, they will be dead already. We can only hope and pray that they are still alive and they can get to them before it’s too late.

mokryna

Are there any crew members, if so they haven’t been mentioned, have they?

One of those on board is reported to be the CEO of the company which runs the submersible operations.

mokryna

Are there any crew members, if so they haven’t been mentioned, have they?

There are only five souls on board.

It is a very tiny submersible, no bigger than a small VW camper van, very basic in every way.

I think 2 are crew.

Are there any crew members, if so they haven’t been mentioned, have they?

Even if they can get down it will be so dark they could be looking for a needle in a haystack and I'm not sure they can go so deep. One man who had been down said risk of death was mentioned three times on the agreement he signed. Those on board knew the danger but it is a different matter when danger becomes reality.

It is not a submarine, it is being called a submersible.

There was a submariner Officer on the news explaining the difference. From what I gathered submersibles go much deeper than submarines, also submarines have a standardised hatch which rescue submarines can lock onto in order to rescue those onboard, submersibles do not. (A bit like how space shuttle docks with the space station)

The only way these souls can be rescued is to locate and raise the submersible, and therein lies the problem.

I applaud pioneers and those who take risks for the benefit of mankind. I just wonder at those who take unnecessary risks for no real purpose. Also those brave souls who set out on dangerous journeys for a better life have to be respected.
This trip was for no other purpose then to tell friends that they had done it. I believe it's pitch black at those levels so they would find it difficult to see anything.