2023-06-22 22:54:06
The whole world has gone into shock once more due to a new tragedy in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Exactly 113 years following the shipwreck of the RMS Titanica submersible dedicated to expeditions to its debris, still the target of studies and analysis, has imploded just 488 meters from it.
Titanof the company OceanGate, it was the center of concerns, prayers and rescue missions. It was a time-limited event. Since her disappearance, there was only a maximum period of 96 hours for the oxygen reserves of her five crew members, who, sadly, have passed away. This is the chronology of an accident that, according to former employees of the company and former passengers, was a matter of time given the few safety measures in the submarine.
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Background
Titan’s Descent into the Rubble of the Titanic he was not the first. OceanGate He had already managed to perform this feat on previous occasions, in 2021 and 2022.
However, his success in them was not without question regarding the performance of the carbon fiber submarine. In 2018, two former company employees had been fired for expressing concern regarding the submersible’s safety measures. This was dismissed by the end of the same year.
Another example is the statements of explorer Chris Brown, who withdrew his deposits of $110,000 that he had paid for the journey. following witnessing these issues firsthand. Even so, OceanGate He continued with his plans.
More famous is the case of the Mexican Alan Estrada, the popular “Alan around the world”, who might have been on one of the expeditions to the seabed. “All of us who made that expedition were fully aware of the risks we were taking,” he tells BBC Mundo. “But I never felt unsafe. I was fully aware of the risks and I knew that if something happened, if there was a failure in those depths and the submersible imploded, we probably wouldn’t even notice.”
Titan It is made of carbon fiber and titanium. It measures 2.8 meters wide, 2.5 high, 6.7 deep and has oxygen for five people for 96 hours. This information is key to what would happen next.
The fact
Five people were on their way to fulfill this mission in the depths of the Atlantic Ocean on Sunday, June 18.
I was on the member list Hamish Hardingbillionaire president of the Action Aviation jet company and who was not new to unprecedented travel: had already gone into space (100 km altitude) with Jeff Bezos’ space company, Blue Origin). He was accompanied by the businessman from Pakistan Shahzada Dawoodwho was with his son Suleman to fulfill a dream. The scientific guide was French Paul-Henry Nargeoletan expert in the study of the Titanic, while Stockton Rushexecutive of OceanGate, was also the pilot of the submersible. With the exception of the latter, the rest of the passengers paid $250,000 for the trip.
The submarine left the city of St. Johns, in the Canadian province of Newfoundland. It began its descent 400 miles out to sea, according to the Joint Rescue Coordination Center in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Titan it left an icebreaker named Polar Prince to start its operations. 1 hour and 45 minutes later, full contact with the ship was lost.
The one who immediately assumed the search tasks was the United States Coast Guard, precisely the one in Boston, Massachusetts. The presence of Rear Admiral John Mauger would be key to official communications from this date. 9:13 p.m. local time.
Photo of Titan in the depths from a past OceanGate mission. Source: OceanGate
search missions
On Sunday, the situation would begin to worsen as the hours passed due to the main counter: the oxygen reserve.
The mission in Titan it is 8-10 days since you leave the port. The submarine does not necessarily remain under the sea all the time, but descends and ascends multiple times during the action time.
But the 96 hours of reserve were in the case of emergencies that may arise, as on this occasion.
Because of its proximity, rescue teams from the US and Canada would team up to find the submarine. “It’s a remote region and it’s difficult to search an area like that,” Rear Admiral John Mauger told reporters in Boston on Monday, from where he was supervising the operation.
20 square kilometers, 4 kilometers deep, was the area in which to search. In the center, on the seabed, lie the remains of the Titanic. At such a depth pressures can be expected regarding 380 times higher than the atmospheric pressure we are used to on the Earth’s surface.
To locate it, at least two planes, a submarine and sonar buoys are used. These buoys listen for underwater noise, including distress beacons that may have been fired.
The first forecasts of the end of oxygen determined until Thursday June 22 and, as time passed, the illusions of being able to find the members of the expedition alive were running out.
But a day before, on Wednesday the 21st, a light of hope was found. Or a sound, rather.
The same US Coast Guard confirmed in the early hours of Wednesday that rescue teams detected “underwater noises” in the search area. As a result, ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) operations were relocated in an attempt to explore the source of the noises. There, the score had been reduced from 96 to less than 30.
The critical stage of the search, this Thursday, would begin with French help, a huge robot ship and with more than shocking news. Wendy Rush, esposa del Stockton Rush, He was a descendant of retail magnate Isidor Straus and his wife, Ida Straus, two of the wealthiest people aboard the Titanic. This figure was even represented in the James Cameron film, forming part of the collective universe that is spoken of when referring to the enormous ship.
Unfortunately, there we would begin to find the outcome of the story.
Satellite image of Maxar over the search area for the remains of Titan. Source: MAXAR
A mystery (almost) solved
By 11 in the morning, Peru time, the remote-controlled robot would find the key clue to solve the case. Very close to the rubble Titanic, would be “a landing frame and a rear deck” which, hours later, we would confirm were from Titan.
The Coast Guard, with Mauger once more on voice, would clarify the issue. Just 488 meters from the main rubble, new historical pieces of a tragedy were consolidated. His presence too confirmed the death of its crew by implosion: physical process in which an object contracts towards its own center under the action of external or internal forces. In this case, the pressure of the depths.
“These men were true explorers who shared a strong spirit of adventure and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world’s oceans. We are sorry for the loss of life and the joy they brought to everyone they met,” he would say. it’s a statement OceanGate regarding the death of the 5 crew members of Titan. “This is a very sad time for the entire exploring community and for every single family member of those lost at sea. We respectfully ask that the privacy of these families be respected during this painful time.”
But this is far from over.
From here, the efforts change shape. First, the remains or belongings of the crew members must be found, as a way of closing the very sad chapter that their relatives are going through. In addition, the cause of the disaster must be determined, as well as the exact moment in which the implosion occurred.
“We will begin demobilizing personnel and vessels from the scene over the course of the next 24 hours. But we are going to continue with remote operations at the bottom of the sea, ”added Maugen in his most sorrowful press conference. “On behalf of the US Coast Guard and the entire Unified Command, I offer my deepest condolences.”
At least 46 people successfully traveled in the submersible of OceanGate until the remains of the liner in 2021 and 2022. But, if the authorities take action on the matter, no more people will risk dying in this part of the Atlantic once more. He Titanic it is majestic, but it is also part of a past to which only scientists and historians, with all the necessary security measures, should travel.
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