quote:

Originally posted by Flashlightboy:
Other than the Titanic, when was the last time a cruise ship gone down?

You've mistaken us with the people debating this topic.

quote:

Originally posted by 92fstech:
Barring some sort of miraculous recovery, I hope you are correct that death came instantly. That beats the hell out of slowly freezing or suffocating in a tiny steel tube under 12,000 feet of water in the middle of a sub-oceanic graveyard .

Like Das Boot, but a thousand times worse.

https://www.seattletimes.com/s...is-based-in-everett/

OceanGate Expeditions, operator of the five-person submersible that went missing in the North Atlantic, is headquartered in Everett, Washington.

OceanGate was founded in 2009 by Seattle resident Stockton Rush, who is the company’s CEO and founder of OceanGate Foundation, a marine technology nonprofit organization. Attempts to reach Rush on Monday weren’t successful.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news...mersible/ar-AA1cLfXS

Sky News also understands that French submersible pilot, Paul-Henry Nargeolet, and chief executive and founder of OceanGate Expeditions, Stockton Rush, were also on board.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:

quote:

Originally posted by sdy:
OceanGate announced on Twitter earlier in June that it was relying on Elon Musk's Starlink to provide internet and communications connection during the expedition. It is not clear whether communications played any role in the submersible going missing.

Apparently Musk is on FNC's shit list as well.

A ridiculous statement that has no place in this article. If it is "not clear", then it needn't be mentioned at all...unless, of course, you want to sully Musk/Starlink.

Noticed that as well, wonder WTF is that statement in the article. Not like I care about Musk but, only bad news can come out of such a statement, spurring-on unnecessary speculation by the openly ignorant.

quote:

Originally posted by Flashlightboy:
Other than the Titanic, when was the last time a cruise ship gone down? The one that crashed a few years ago did so because the captain thought he'd get some poon by showing off to his girlfriend.

You're referring to this act of stupidity

Last sinking of a ship with passengers onboard was in 2015 on a river cruise in China, freak storm and winds.

Maybe I'm just an ignorant Southerner, but why didn't they tie a rope to it to pull it back up in an emergency?

You know, like a normal high risk expedition would have.

My buddy said it was $250K a seat. Rough way to go.

The sub is supposed to "ping" every 15 minutes, so far none for more than 8 hours.

It is like Everest, but opposite ends of the survival landscape; climbers in trouble on or near the top, rescue is almost impossible it is so high. And the people in the sub are so far down in the ocean, if they haven't already been crushed, rescue is nearly impossible.

Submariners are a special breed. Perhaps it is just one of my phobias, but I would have a difficult time going underwater in a sub. Hell, I felt slight discomfort on Finding Nemo at Disneyland, and that was really just a deep draft boat.

Hats off to the silent service, and respect to the crews of Thresher and Scorpion. I’ve heard death is instantaneous in an implosion due to the air pressure reaching over 1000psi. You’re dead before you get wet. That gives me some comfort, but I will fly, go to the moon, or even get on a cruise ship, with all the culinary threats, before I get on a sub. It may not be rational, but it is just the way it is.

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:
Here’s a company that claims their winch system can reach 3,500 meters, about 1,000 feet short of the Titanic:

"That meant a 630-tonne traction winch and its 35-tonne storage winch—the first provides the tensile force, while the second stores the 4,000-meter cable.

The mission of these winches will be to place or retrieve packages from the ocean floor at depths of as much as 3,500 meters.”

Link

Oceaneering has offshore intervention vessels with 250 metric ton cranes with 4000m working capacity. Not just that, their ROVs are rated at same depth.

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
I've been on a tourist submarine in Big Island, Hawaii, but that was 110 feet of water and visible sight of shore.

Yeah, that looks like something I'd actually enjoy. Same as I wouldn't mind going on a river cruise.

Exactly what we did on our honeymoon. I enjoyed it, but my wife was so scared, saying "never again". But, regarding going deep sub, nope, not for me, either.

Sucks for sure. Hoping for a rescue and not a recovery. I doubt the signed liability waivers will prevent lawsuits, and I wonder how many times the sub and crew have made this trip. Fox News website says the company recently announced new crews.

Some perspectives on that specific vessel. Rather grim possibilites, but definitely a chance the sub has already surfaced somewhere and just needs to be located.

quote:

Originally posted by Mars_Attacks:
Maybe I'm just an ignorant Southerner, but why didn't they tie a rope to it to pull it back up in an emergency?

You know, like a normal high risk expedition would have.

12,000 feet of rope? I think an emergency inflatable would be much better.

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
Oceaneering has offshore intervention vessels with 250 metric ton cranes with 4000m working capacity. Not just that, their ROVs are rated at same depth.

So rescue is not out of the realm of possibility. Nice.

I've been interested in the Titanic going back to my early childhood. I could see how somebody with money would have interest in going down to see it first hand.

Some of the videos I have watched about this particular operation indicate that they are working on documenting the wreck site in high resolution video. I suspect the rides down at $250K a pop are to subsidize a portion of that expense. It surely can not be inexpensive to engage in this type of work.

Put me in the camp that this thing suffered some sort of catastrophic failure. It is designed with the means to communicate, and it has not. I'd suspect at the moment communication was lost they'd return to surface for safety. It is also designed to surface on its own in an emergency. Perhaps it has but hasn't been spotted yet.

I don't know what kind of ride that would be. The original HOV Alvin that was used for the first manned mission to the Titanic had a titanium sphere that encapsulated the crew. In an emergency the submersible would separate itself from the sphere allowing an uncontrolled ascent to the surface. I also don't know if those inside could open it up from within to get out once on the surface, or if any of the communication equipment would be functional after a separation.

quote:

Originally posted by kkina:
Some perspectives on that specific vessel.

"Homemade"? Sealed from the outside?

Sewer pipe tomb.

I was involved with "real" submarines / submersibles at a naval nuclear shipyard. No fucking way would I go under the waves in that damned thing.

quote:

Originally posted by sigcrazy7:
Submariners are a special breed. Perhaps it is just one of my phobias, but I would have a difficult time going underwater in a sub. Hell, I felt slight discomfort on Finding Nemo at Disneyland, and that was really just a deep draft boat.

Hats off to the silent service, and respect to the crews of Thresher and Scorpion. I’ve heard death is instantaneous in an implosion due to the air pressure reaching over 1000psi. You’re dead before you get wet. That gives me some comfort, but I will fly, go to the moon, or even get on a cruise ship, with all the culinary threats, before I get on a sub. It may not be rational, but it is just the way it is.

Well said, sigcrazy, I feel the same.

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
Oceaneering has offshore intervention vessels with 250 metric ton cranes with 4000m working capacity. Not just that, their ROVs are rated at same depth.

So rescue is not out of the realm of possibility. Nice.

Unfortunately, not with that ship. There is a maritime equivalent to Flight Aware that allows you to track ship movements.

That particular ship was last shown to be in Louisiana. It doesn't make 20 knots so it will never make it to the site in time before their air supply runs out. It could assist with recovery however.

Comparing getting into a tiny submersible, of which very few of its kind exist and diving to incredible depth in the ocean, to air travel, which is actually very safe, is preposterous.

Time and again, it's been pointed out that commercial air travel is statistically safer than traveling via automobile on public roadways.

When an aircraft crashes, it's going the same direction it does when it lands. You don't get stuck at 35,000 feet until you die for whatever reason. There's also a possibility of a pilot recovering from things as severe as part of the cabin roof being ripped away at altitude, or losing hydraulics or whatever.

I no longer fly, not because I'm scared of crashing, but rather due to my severe allergy to bullshit. I'd go back on a plane if I needed to, but there's no way in Hell that I would climb into a tiny submersible and dive deep into the ocean. No way.

Gotta be some irony in spending so much money and taking so much risk to go see an unsinkable ship at the bottom of the ocean.

Former Navy officer, US congressman calls for deployment of nuclear sub to search for missing Titanic tour

Uh, no

Get a grip, congressman. Really