CBS reporter's experience with the OceanGate submersible last year:

[sl8]

Sounds like it had comms problems for about 2.5 hours last year.


https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65957709

Titanic tourist submersible: What's it like on the vessel?

Published 1 hour ago
By Kathryn Armstrong & George Wright
BBC News

Two men who made the same trip in a tourist submersible that has now gone missing during a Titanic wreck dive have shared their fears over whether those stuck inside can escape.

Two men who made the same trip in a tourist submersible that has now gone missing during a Titanic wreck dive have shared their fears over whether those stuck inside can escape.

CBS correspondent David Pogue - who took the trip last year and wrote an account of it - explained to the BBC that passengers were sealed inside the main capsule by several bolts that were applied from the outside and had to be removed by an external crew.

[...]

"When the support ship is directly over the sub, they can send short text messages back and forth. Clearly those are no longer getting a response," Mr Pogue said, adding that Titan had got lost for about three hours during the expedition he was on last year.

He described being initially hesitant about going aboard the sub at all because some of the components appeared "off the shelf, sort of improvised".

[...]

======================
Comms issue at ~ 7:30

A visit to RMS Titanic

CBS Sunday Morning

Dec 20 2022

#titanic
#rmstitanic

Correspondent David Pogue joins Titanic enthusiasts who will happily pay a small fortune to ride in OceanGate's specially-designed submersible vehicle, equipped with 4K video cameras, to visit the remains of the luxury liner 13,000 feet beneath the North Atlantic (weather conditions permitting). Originally broadcast November 27, 2022.
#titanic #rmstitanic

"CBS Sunday Morning" features stories on the arts, music, nature, entertainment, sports, history, science and Americana, and highlights unique human accomplishments and achievements. Check local listings for CBS Sunday Morning broadcast times.

[...]

[EYESORE 9001]

1. Nope

In a previous life, I served aboard a nuclear-powered boat. It was nerve-wracking, even knowing there were over 100 trained crew members in case something happened.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

20. And a lot more resources on board a sub

as compared to this submersible.

[EYESORE 9001]

22. Yes indeed

I came to appreciate the term ‘redundancy,’ in the sense that everything had a backup system.

[hlthe2b]

2. David Pogue must be thanking his "lucky stars..." NOT me. Underwater claustrophobia? No thanks

[Duppers]

5. Exactly!

My 1st thought: NOPE.

[UpInArms]

3. Steering it with an Xbox controller?

Play stupid games … win stupid prizes

[Buns_of_Fire]

4. I thought about that, and it might not be as wacky as it sounds.

The things are built to take abuse, there's some quality control involved in the manufacture, and if you get a dud or one goes bad, you can just swap it out with another unit that'll perform exactly the same way.

[UpInArms]

6. Well, I hope they had a whole box of them

and some good extra batteries

[Buns_of_Fire]

10. "Batteries? You mean you forgot to pack the freakin' spare batteries?" nt

[3Hotdogs]

8. Change your sentence to, "Pay for stupid games."

Titanic? Mt. Everest? Elon's space ride? Fuck that.

[KidContra]

15. US Navy too

The US Navy’s newest submarine comes with an Xbox controller / Off-the-shelf equipment saves the military a lot of money

[gopiscrap]

24. welcome to DU

[sir pball]

23. The Navy uses XBox controllers, that's not an issue at all.

Of all the COTS (Commercial Off The Shelf) parts they're talking about, the controller is far and away the least of my worries. If the Navy sees fit to use them on the Virginia-class attack submarines, they're perfectly cromulent for a piddling little submersible.

What bugs me is the statement I read from someone who had been onboard saying *everything* is touchscreen, there's nary a physical switch in sight. Submarines get very, very wet inside if the climate control fails, five sweaty bodies in a cold metal tube, and dripping condensation does not play well with fiddly electronics…

[CatWoman]

7. ....

[Marthe48]

9. Is there any food/water aboard?

I wouldn't think there was much of anything, because the tour wasn't supposed to be long.

Aren't there transponders hooked to the submersible? We can track space gear even outside our Solar System. Why not have tracking mechanisms on the submersible?

[sl8]

12. Five years ago, it used this transponder:

https://www.offshore-energy.biz/oceangate-and-ixblue-team-up-for-titanic-expedition/

"To communicate with Posidonia during each dive, Titan is equipped with iXblue’s MT8 compact low frequency transponder."

[Marthe48]

17. This jumped out at me

“With iXblue our pilot can safely navigate around shipwrecks because we know almost exactly where we are."

[3catwoman3]

11. If it were me aboard that submersible (and it NEVER would be)...

…I would rather it be lost to a catastrophic structural failure and be instantly crushed to death than to be waiting to die slowly by suffocation or dehydration.

[milestogo]

13. "sealed inside the main capsule by several bolts that were applied from the outside"

extreme claustrophobia while pooping your pants

[Buns_of_Fire]

14. That's one of the (many) details that freaked me out.

But then I think to myself, at 12,000 feet down, you're not going to just open a hatch and swim to the surface anyway.

[usedtobedemgurl]

16. Bet the owners are doing everything they can

For a rescue. You know paying a quarter of a mill for that trip means they have more money at home. I can see loved ones suing.

[Liberal In Texas]

18. Good luck to them on suing. They had to sign that 2 page release before the dive.

It says they understand they might die.

[getagrip_already]

21. And the company is probably a shell anyway...

Chances are, Every piece of equipment is leased from an independent third party, cash leaves as soon as it is acquired, and it is buried in offshore protections.

There is nothing there to sue more than likely. This isn't the white star line... (not that they had to pay out any real damages themselves).

[treestar]

19. They called if off and came back a few times

thus making it look worse. They cannot return for some reason.