The Titan tragedy: how did the Titanic tourist submersible operate?

Source: The post is based on the article “The Titan tragedy: how did the Titanic tourist submersible operate?” published in The Hindu on 26th June 2023

What is the News?

The missing Titan submersible, found near the Titanic shipwreck in the North Atlantic Sea with debris indicating implosion, killed 5 people on board.

What is Titan?

Titan is a submersible or an underwater vehicle. 

Operated by: It is operated by the privately owned U.S. company OceanGate which organizes underwater expeditions for both research and tourism. 

Purpose: It is intended for site survey and inspection, research and data collection, film and media production, and deep sea testing of hardware and software.

– Its expeditions were meant to document the Titanic and its rate of decay on the ocean floor.

What is the difference between a submarine and a submersible?

A submarine refers to an underwater vehicle that is largely independent and has power reserves to help it depart from a port or come back to the port after an expedition.  However, the two categories can overlap,

Meanwhile, a submersible is generally smaller and has less power, so it needs to work with a ship in order to be launched and recovered. Titan was working with a vessel named Polar Prince.

How is the Titan operated?

Titan is made of carbon fiber and titanium. It is capable of going 4,000 meters undersea and moves as fast as three knots per hour.

There is space for five crew members to sit on the floor, though not stand. While there is a small porthole window at one end, below 1,000 meters no sunlight reaches the ocean, so the submersible would have to rely on its own lighting. 

The submersible is dependent on external crew members, as it is bolted from the outside. Titan also has an integrated launch and recovery platform.

What caused the Titan implosion?

A catastrophic implosion that destroyed the Titan submersible would have occurred with incredible force and speed due to the crushing pressure that’s present in deep water.

This submersible incident has ignited a worldwide debate about the ethics of dark tourism and the need to regulate technological innovation in high-risk sectors.