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.