Titan expedition to Titanic wreckage suffered catastrophic implosion

by RM Nair

St. JOHN'S (Newfoundland, Canada), June 23: At 1 hr 45 min after the dive proper began on Sunday morning off St John's, June 18, the Titan expedition to the Titanic carrying five passengers - submarine experts and business magnates included - lost communication with the Canadian support ship, Polar Prince, on the Atlantic surface anchored over the site of the century old wreckage. After four days of futile search by planes and ships sent by the US, Canada, UK and France, a robot finally dived to the bottom to discover the parts of Titan strewn around 1,600 feet from the Titanic following a catastrophic implosion.

Its scheduled duration for descent to the Titanic wreckage was 2 hrs 30 min total. Deducting 30 min for a slow dive as it nears the ocean bed, the actual time the vessel was to take in descending at normal speed for reaching the bed was 2 hrs. As it lost contact at 1 hr 45 min, the Titan, it can be assumed, faced the problem at a depth of approx 4,000 mts/120 min X 105 min (time covered) = 3,500 metres. Therefore, the mishap took place at a point 500 metres above the bottom. Or, taking into account the full duration of 2 hrs and 30 min at average speed, not giving a margin for slow dive, the disaster point is at: 4,000/150 min X 105 min = 2,800 metres depth, ie 1,200 metres above the ocean bed.

Therefore, the actual point of implosion or breakup is somewhere at a depth between 2,800 metres and 3,500 metres from the Atlantic surface. Or, somewhere between 500 metres and 1,200 metres above the ocean's bottom. Certainly it did not touch the ocean bed, which is 3,800 metres (12,467 feet) from the surface.

Below the surface, the water pressure increases by 1.96 kg per sq inch for every 10 feet of descent. That is, at the Titanic wreckage site on the Atlantic bed at 3,800 metres (12,467 feet) the pressure is 2,443 kg per sq inch. If the submersible imploded at 500 metres above sea bed, if we go by our calculations, the pressure it had to withstand was 2,345 kg per sq inch. The hull was not built for that, as per the court cases fought by concerned people at the time of manufacture and the subsequent cancellation of booking by at least one ocean expert.

Implosion at that level is so quick that it leaves no time to communicate, no time to even comprehend what is happening. Loss of communication is the communication!!! At that pressure, a human body becomes pulp in less than a second. In all probability, their end was not traumatic. No hypothermia, no hypercapnia, no decompression pangs!

Titan’s nose cone, view port, hull and other parts are strewn around. May have been carried apart by ocean currents, according to the data sent by the Canadian robot. Or, as it is thought, taking into account the duration of dive, the blast having taken place 500 metres above the bed, the debris would naturally have scattered all over.

A chronology of the disaster

On Sunday morning, June 18, the expedition was launched and the vessel was detached from the platform under sea at 10 am and the communication was snapped at 11.47 am. The actual journey was to be 2 hrs. It was expected back at surface at 6.10 pm. At 6.35 pm rescue operations started.

Titan was equipped with 96 hours of oxygen and life support.

It ws the Canadian P-3 aircraft that detected underwater sounds of banging in the search area every 30 minutes since Tuesday morning and continued on Thursday also which prompted the despatch of the robots. If that has discontinued? If that was false, what was it? There have not been any answers.

Canadian vessel Horizon Arctics' ROV robot reached Atlantic floor and started searching for the missing Titan at 4:26 PM Thursday. Later, French vessel L'Atalante deployed its ROV robot Victor 6000 at 5 PM. It could cut cables to free the submersible if it is stuck and put a hook so that the rescue ship on the surface can pull it up. The ROV has manipulating arms. And, the robot can work for 72 hrs.

The videos taken by the robot showed the debris scattered. The vessel's nose was found 1,600 feet from the Titanic bow.

The Polar Prince used a hydrophone to receive and translate the data.

Titan was 22-ft. long, 9.2-ft. wide and 8.3-ft. high and made of fibre and titanium. It weighed 10,500 kg and could carry a load of 680 kg. It could go to a depth of as 4,000 metres (13,123 feet) in the ocean. The Titanic wreckage is lying at a depth of 3,800 metres (12,467 feet).

The Titan was operated by the US-based company, OceanGate Expeditions. Its CEO Stockton Rush (one of the five passengers on board) had founded it in 2009 with a view to study the depths of oceans.

OceanGate has been operating undersea expedition to the Titanic wreck since 2021. Ticket costs $250,000 per person, according to the company's website.