Titanic submarine: What happened to OceanGate’s Titan submersible?

The five crew members on board the missing Titan submersible died in a “catastrophic implosion”, the US Coast Guard has confirmed.

Oceangate Expeditions CEO Stockton Rush, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, British billionaire Hamish Harding, and French adventurer Paul-Henri Nargeolet were on a dive to the Titanic shipwreck when the vessel lost communication with its support ship on Sunday 18 June.

A frantic search for the missing submersible unfolded over the course of four days, before news of the “catastrophic implosion” was confirmed on Thursday.

With the tragedy dominating the headlines, The Independent takes a look at what happened to OceanGate’s Titan submersible.

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[sarah]

RIP all those on board 😢 in particular the youngest at just 19, his whole life ahead of him 🙏

[useruseroj]

Condolences to the 5 men who died in the submarine, to see so many people online mocking the situation is disgusting, yes, the Titanic shouldn't be seen as a tourist attraction and should be left alone out of respect for the 1500+ who perished and yes it wasn't the smartest idea, but imagine one of your family members or someone you care about being in this situation, you wouldn't want other people to joke about them dying and suffering from a horrible death, the amount of people judging them due to the fact they're wealthy is tasteless too, rich or poor no one deserves to go through anything like this, it's like people are implying because someone is rich they're stuck up and selfish, you don't know every single rich individual nor do you speak for them

[Sgrinwaipwr]

What happened:

CEO of dodgy submarine wants to cut corners on safety to maximise profits and sacks any engineer who disagrees with his decision (so, all of the good ones.)

CEO decides to pilot the sub and he takes down to the freezing depths 4 guests including a scared 19 year old who is only there to appease his billionaire father (also present.)

The safety violations cause the submarine to implode under the immense pressure of the water and they all die.

Hopefully they died quick enough for the guests not to suffer too much. At the same time I hope that CEO died knowing it was all his fault, that his stupid greed was ending his life and the lives of 4 others including a near child.

Though it seems he was so arrogant he probably wouldve died blaming someone else, anyone else but himself. That's what these types of people are like.

[truthsearcher]

After viewing the inside and a little research into the submersible, the saying "Play stupid games, win stupid prizes" keeps coming to mind.

[chrism]

They lost contact at 9:45am, and then waited until 5:40pm to tell the authorities

[ChunkyRay]

Why not just send a remote control submarine down there to record the titanic and send it back up if people really want to see it that bad

[bilcat]

title of this video is pure sensasionalism and no way consistent with the content

[reallymakesyouthink]

I'm going to go to the bottom of the ocean in a dustbin. Wish me luck

[zyexio]

People are all over Instagram making memes and joking that these guys died, justifying it as “they knew the risk”. So that’s like saying it’s okay to make jokes about literally anyone who has ever died in a vehicular accident because they knew there was a chance that they’d die. The lack of regard for human life by fellow humans is actually disgusting.

[annsaunders]

Should have been illegal to use that contraption

[aj]

What about the ship sinking last week killing 300+, where’s the ‘equative’ media coverage on that?

[FiveSkitsAtFreddys]

So tragic, no one deserves to die in such a way.

[Bumberbludclart]

Let's face it, when Oceangate first claimed to have an sea capable sub, we all knew it was a load of crap

[_GorgeousGeorge]

This is the most gruesome undersea disaster since Disney's _The Little Mermaid._

[TheNeighborhoodCat]

gone. on the seabed with the ambitious owner taking four lives with his quest.

[koserparveen]

Sue the company for gross negligence what was signed

[mazariqbal]

Another story of the future..another history made.

[psiphonworld]

Greece a week ago or something drowned a boat full of people leading around 600 refuge seekers to drawn and die! Where's the international effort? Where are the rescue teams? Where's the media? Hypocrite world

[markallen]

600 people drowned a few days ago, zero coverage....

[smokejaguar]

I hate to have to say it as I had hoped they would make it but spun carbon is by its very nature, challenging for deep-sea submersibles

Pressure resistance: Deep-sea environments exert immense pressure due to the weight of water above. Carbon fiber composites do not possess the required strength to withstand extreme pressures at great depths. Other materials like titanium or specially designed alloys are much more suitable for deep-sea submersibles though such an option is much more expensive.

Corrosion susceptibility: Seawater is corrosive, and certain metals offer better resistance to corrosion than spun carbon. While carbon fiber can resist many corrosive elements, prolonged exposure to saltwater could pose challenges (untested) and necessitate additional protective measures.

Spun carbon structures require precise engineering and manufacturing processes, which is complex and expensive. Repairing or replacing damaged carbon fiber components in remote deep-sea locations would pose logistical difficulties and increase costs significantly over time.

Had I been fortunate to spend such a vast sum on such a trip and had I read during my due diligence, discovering that the hull was spun carbon fibre? Five inches thick or not, I would not have gone down there (roughly 10 times greater than the height of the Empire State Building) ...The carbon fibre pressure hull collapsed!