Year after Titan’s fatal dive, explorers vow to pursue ocean mysteries

Year after Titan’s fatal dive, explorers vow to pursue ocean mysteries

Sub: Geography

Sec: Oceanography

Context:

• June 18 marks one year since the Titan vanished on its way to the historic wreckage site in the North Atlantic Ocean (off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada). After a five-day search that captured attention around the world, authorities said the vessel had been destroyed and all five people on board had died.

Details:

• Concerns have been raised about whether the Titan was destined for disaster because of its unconventional design and its creator’s refusal to submit to independent checks that are standard in the industry.
• The deep-sea exploration continues. The Georgia-based company that owns the salvage rights to the Titanic plans to visit the sunken ocean liner in July using remotely operated vehicles.

About the Titan:

• The Titan began deep-sea ventures related to the Titanic in 2021.
• Titan, the missing vessel is a submersible capable of taking five people — one pilot and four crew members — to depths of 4,000 meters, or more than 13,100 feet — for site survey and inspection, research and data collection, film and media production, and deep sea testing of hardware and software.
• The titan was made of titanium and carbon fibre, it weighs about 21,000 pounds and is listed as measuring 22 feet by 9.2 feet by 8.3 feet, with 96 hours of “life support” for five people.
• The Titan, one of three types of crewed submersibles operated by OceanGate, is equipped with a platform similar to the dry dock of a ship that launches and recovers the vessel.
  • The platform is used to launch and recover manned submersibles by flooding its flotation tanks with water for a controlled descent to a depth of 9.1 meters (30 feet) to avoid any surface turbulence.
  • Once submerged, the platform uses a patented motion-dampening flotation system to remain coupled to the surface yet still provide a stable underwater platform from which our manned submersibles lift off of and return to after each dive.
  • At the conclusion of each dive, the sub lands on the submerged platform and the entire system is brought to the surface in approximately two minutes by filling the ballast tanks with air.
• As per the website of company, titan employs a system that can analyze how pressure changes affect the vessel as it dives deeper, providing early warning detection for the pilot with enough time to arrest the descent and safely return to the surface.

How did the submersible implode?

• The Titan was made of carbon fiber and titanium, materials thought to withstand the pressure at depths of up to 4,000 meters. The craft’s hull was designed to protect the crew from the water pressure.
• The water pressure 3,800 meters down at the site of the Titanic wreck is roughly 400 atmospheres (6,000 PSI) — about the same as having 35 elephants on your shoulders.
• Titanium is elastic and can adapt to ranges of stresses and pressures without permanent strain on the material. Carbon fiber on the other hand is stiffer and non-elastic, often prone to cracking.

Source: TH