Titanic Submersible Past Tourists Describe Failures

[NowISeetheLight]

Daily Beast has an incredible article. It describes past "tourists" who went on the Titan. They described the standard failures that happened on most trips. It sounds horrifying. One guy said he was "incredibly lucky to survive" his dive while another said it was "the most terrifying experience" of his life. One called it a "suicide mission".

https://www.thedailybeast.com/chilling-tales-of-past-dives-to-titanic-wreckage-keep-piling-up

[CentralMass]

1. It is the stuff of nightmares.

[Sky Jewels]

14. I could hardly sleep last night

imagining the horrors of being trapped alive in that underwater tomb. The terror and discomfort would be indescribable. I'd rather die suddenly than "survive" that trauma.

[CentralMass]

21. I agree completely.

[GAdem2016]

2. I highly recommend listening to the NYT The Daily from this morning.

The guest is an expert on deep sea exploration and describes in detail all of the cost-cutting steps this company did for these "adventure tourism" excursions. Definitely a focus on profits over safety.

[JI7]

6. I think it was about time more than profit

[MissB]

23. Thanks!

I usually catch up to the daily on the weekend but I’ll check it out today.

[RAB910]

3. Yup this accident is a prime example of Libertarianism at its finest

[Maraya1969]

4. The founder hated safety regulations. What a jerk.

"Shocking details about the Titan and OceanGate have emerged this week. That included the surfacing of comments from the company’s founder, Stockton Rush, bemoaning regulations and calling safety efforts a “pure waste.” Rush is believed to have been on board Titan’s most recent dive.

“I mean if you just want to be safe, don’t get out of bed, don’t get in your car, don’t do anything,” Rush told CBS News in a podcast last year. “At some point, you’re going to take some risk, and it really is a risk-reward question.”

-------------------------

"Flaws with the Titan, like its lack of a basic locator beacon and failed safety checks, became widely reported for the first time this week. Possible leadership failures also emerged, with The Daily Beast revealing that Rush was sued for fraud by a Florida couple who claim they paid for a Titanic voyage but never received one.

The sketchiness of Rush’s operation was enough to put off at least one potential passenger for Sunday’s trip, who surrendered an $88,000 deposit to steer clear of the Titan."

[Maru Kitteh]

10. correction . .

That would be the Titan's final dive.



That $88K surrendered deposit will be some of the best money that person ever spends.

[liberalla]

28. I wonder if that is why Stockton Rush is on this trip... because he had a late cancellation?

[NowISeetheLight]

15. Link

The sketchiness of Rush’s operation was enough to put off at least one potential passenger for Sunday’s trip, who surrendered an $88,000 deposit to steer clear of the Titan."

I hadn't heard about this. Is there a link or anything? Would be interesting to read about someone who figured out what was going on and saved himself.

[Maraya1969]

24. The link is the one in the OP. I read the whole article so maybe it is at the end.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/chilling-tales-of-past-dives-to-titanic-wreckage-keep-piling-up

[Sky Jewels]

16. That asshole screwed himself, as well as four others. He is on board the Titan,

sealed in his own tomb (or perhaps blown to pieces and already eaten by sea creatures). But, hey, at least he stuck it to the nanny state libs before he suffocated or imploded.

[tanyev]

5. They should have left some Yelp reviews.

[Maraya1969]

25. Why am I laughing so hard!!!!

You are right though. Had people heard from others what it was like maybe they would have stayed away.

[Johonny]

7. Josh Gates rode it and refused to film an episode in it

Saying it was not safe.

[CaptainTruth]

8. I'm glad to see he's speaking out about it.

[NowISeetheLight]

22. Josh Gates - Googled It - Good Articles

Found these online. Freaking McGyver wouldn't have gotten into this contraption!

This one has a video too:

https://www.today.com/news/titanic-submersible-discovery-channel-host-josh-gates-rcna90562

Articles:

https://www.thewrap.com/expedition-unknown-oceangate-dive-safety-concerns/

https://www.newsweek.com/explorer-josh-gates-hints-concerning-problems-titan-submersible-1808297

https://variety.com/2023/film/news/titanic-submersible-concerning-problems-explorer-josh-gates-1235651930/

[Maraya1969]

26. It is terrifying to think about. Running out of air. OMG.

[calimary]

9. I still don't get it - why anyone would want to take this kind of risk.

It’s frightening even to think about!

I fear they’re all dead down there now.

[MrsCoffee]

11. Adreline junkies with god complex.

[Maraya1969]

27. And too much damn money

[MarineCombatEngineer]

13. I think they've been dead since the sudden loss of comms. on Sunday,

IMHO, whatever caused the loss of comms. was sudden and catastrophic and they never knew what hit them, which is a far better way to go than running out of O2.

[Rural_Progressive]

18. I sincerely hope that was their fate

any other outcome would be the stuff of horror.

[flying_wahini]

12. Arrogance at its finest.

[Rural_Progressive]

17. Feeling a bit of a contrarian this morning

and I'm not defending the arsehat of a cheapskate who put a nose viewport on his submersible rated to only 1300 meters rather than pay the price for one the manufacturer would be willing to rate to 4000 meters.

BUT

would you have said the same sort of thing to the Wright Brothers, Limburg, and Earhart? There have been many willing to push the boundaries and risk catastrophic failure. Several things annoy me, first these rich f*cks get in trouble and the first thing they do is demand the government, that they're not willing to pay taxes to, immediately launch all assets regardless of the expense to save their hind ends.

Second, this turns into a major media event because the clowns are uber wealthy.

Third, the international community has not declared the Titanic a preserve not to be damaged by any fool with enough money to produce a vehicle that can reach those depths.

Other than that, well an old Beatles' classic sprung to my lips this morning, "They all died on a homemade submarine, a homemade submarine, a homemade submarine"

[treestar]

20. If it were more than tourism

I could agree.

The asshat who was instrumental in the Challenger launching at near freezing temperatures had the nerve to say that development and progress mean some of the pioneers will die. I guess that's how he lived with himself afterward.

If this guy were doing something that would make progress in human endeavor - I guess future submersibles will be better built.

[treestar]

19. The guy who went 4 times

LOL, he went back 3 times when it's so horrifying? Sounds like hindsight.

As for Stockton's quote, well, he took his chances. As if there is no difference from being too scared to get out of bed in the morning and voluntarily doing something really dangerous.