2023-06-21 16:53:47
Titanic submersible: search continues
Five years ago, experts pointed out possible dangers for passengers on the missing submersible “Titan”. The operating company remained silent and instead took an engineer to court.
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As early as 2018, experts warned of serious safety deficiencies on the “Titan”. The missing submarine is apparently not certified for diving on the “Titanic”. There is only one submarine in the world that can dive deep enough to track down the “Titan”: However, the deep sea submersible is not suitable for rescue operations.
“Today I am very happy that I got out alive back then. In retrospect, that was a suicide mission, »says the German entrepreneur and adventurer Arthur Loibl in one go Interview with the “mirror”. Loibl dived in 2021 with the missing tourist submersible Titan to the wreck of the Titanic.
Two years ago, says Loibl, there were repeated problems with the batteries. One of the previous dives had to be aborted at a depth of 1,600 meters: “In addition, the balancing weights came loose when we lowered them from the mother ship.”
Experts feared a catastrophe as early as 2018
Loibl’s report coincides with assessments by security experts. As early as 2018, executives in the submersible industry had expressed serious concerns about the safety of the “Titan”. This reported the New York Times. In a letter they wrote at the time: “We fear that OceanGate’s current experimental approach could lead to negative results (ranging from minor to catastrophic).”
There were also considerable concerns within the company itself. David Lochridge, director of ship operations at OceanGate until 2018, called for more tests for the boat, according to court documents obtained by the News Republic news portal. quoted. Lochridge was fired from OceanGate in 2018 for questioning the safety of Titan. The engineer and the company then sued each other.
According to Lochridge, the CEO of OceanGate also refused to have the “Titan” certified for diving depths of up to 4,000 meters. The reason for this is clear from the court documents: The viewing window in the front part of the submersible was only built for a certified pressure of 1300 meters and did not meet the standards for pressure vessels for human use. This, although OceanGate wanted to carry passengers at depths of almost 4000 meters. The wreck of the Titanic lies 3,800 meters below sea level.
“Titanic” tourists were left in the dark
Lochridge complained that paying passengers would not be informed by OceanGate about the security concerns. Nor would they know “that hazardous, combustible materials are used inside the submersible.”
Even without knowing the technical defects, some passengers apparently refused to go diving with the “Titan”. During the mission of the German Arthur Loibl, three Americans were there who said when they saw the submarine: “We’re not getting in there.”
Meanwhile, there is little hope for the missing occupants of the “Titan”. If the submersible is on the bottom of the Atlantic or stuck on the wreck of the “Titanic”, it could hardly be recovered. There is only one submarine in the world capable of diving that deep.
This is the DSV Limiting Factor, a research vessel owned by game developer and Valve founder Gabe Newell. But even if the deep-sea submersible were to reach the “Titan”: The “DSV Limiting Factor” is not designed for salvage work.
The OceanGate Expeditions “Titan” submersible has serious safety deficiencies that have been known for years.
Image: dpa
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