2023-06-21 17:53:00
A professor offers two possible theories to explain the disappearance of the Titanic observation submarine
Safety Complaint
Was such an accident foreseeable? This is suggested by a complaint dating from 2018, which claims that David Lochridge, a former manager of the company OceanGate Expeditions, which organizes these underwater escapades for wealthy clients, had been dismissed following having expressed serious doubts regarding the safety of the submarine. According to Mr Lochridge, the porthole at the front of the submersible was designed to withstand the pressure felt at 1,300m depth, not 4,000m. The company “refused to pay the manufacturer to build a porthole that complied with the required depth of 4,000m”, he claims. And he is not the only one to have expressed his concerns. Members of the Marine Technology Society, which brings together companies specializing in marine technologies, also expressed their “unanimous concern” regarding the Titan, in a letter sent to Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate, in March 2018. The latter is today on board the missing submarine. They underlined their fears that OceanGate’s “experimental approach” would have “negative consequences that would have serious repercussions for all players in the sector”.
Disappearance of the submarine on an expedition near the Titanic: “sounds of shocks” heard during the search
Where deep-sea submarines use steel or titanium, the Titan is made of both titanium and carbon fiber to ensure the lightness of the vessel. For Jan Opderbecke, head of the Underwater Systems unit at Ifremer, carbon fiber “lighter than titanium and more manageable makes it possible to produce complex shapes, but it is less resistant to water pressure on the long term”.
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