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OceanGate Inc. is an American privately owned company based in Everett, Washington, that provides crewed submersibles for tourism, industry, research, and exploration. The company was founded in 2009 by Stockton Rush and Guillermo Söhnlein.

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Guillermo Söhnlein

Stockton Rush

The company acquired a submersible vessel, Antipodes, and later built two of its own: Cyclops 1 and Titan. In 2021, OceanGate began taking paying tourists in the Titan to visit the wreck of the Titanic. As of 2022, the price to be a passenger on an OceanGate expedition to the Titanic shipwreck was US$250,000 per person.

OceanGate Footage Shows Past Expeditions to Titanic Wreckage

OceanGate Footage Shows Past Expeditions to Titanic Wreckage

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OceanGate Footage Shows Past Expeditions to Titanic Wreckage

Footage posted on YouTube by OceanGate shows views of the Titanic wreckage and chronicles a “dive experience” to the site in 2022.

On June 18, 2023, Titan imploded during a voyage to the Titanic wreck site, killing all five occupants on board, including Rush. An international search and rescue operation was launched, and on June 22, 2023 the wreckage was found on the seabed about 500 meters (1,600 ft) from the Titanic wreck site. The company subsequently closed its Everett office indefinitely and suspended all exploration and commercial operations.

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Stockton Rush had an interest in aviation and space travel as a child, and obtained a commercial pilot's license when he was 18. As an adult, his interests pivoted to undersea exploration. Rush had built his fortune by investing his inheritance in tech companies and decided to purchase a submarine. He discovered that he was unable to, as there were fewer than 100 privately-owned submarines worldwide. He instead built one from plans in 2006, a Kittredge K-350 which he named Suds.

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  • Passengers: 2 (1 Pilot + 1 Passenger)

  • Operating Depth: 100 Meter

  • View Ports: 22 inches, 16 inches in diameter.

  • Size: 11ft(l) x 4.7ftM(b) x 5ft(h)

  • Weight: 1.5 Tons

  • Support: Complete start-up support available

Kittredge K-350

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This unit of Kittredge-350 (K-350 Rekon) is for an enthusiastic buyer who wants to custom build a submarine. It is a half-built submarine (as seen in the picture left) that includes battery pods, hull, hatch, ballast tanks, rolling cart, and spare parts, and blueprints. It does not have all the parts to build the submarine. It has the most difficult and expensive parts. It still needs the electronics and the plumbing. Most of the parts needed are available off the shelf. The submarine does not come with thrusts, however, they can be easily obtained. Simply buy min-Kota 101 trolling motors and oil compensate them with mineral oil. It is pretty standard practice and parts are readily available. The owners (same owner as that of K-350 trustworthy) also available for any technical help as long as a liability waiver is signed.

Everett-based OceanGate documents the Titanic like never before

Everett-based OceanGate documents the Titanic like never before

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Everett-based OceanGate documents the Titanic like never before

Rush's experience and research led him to believe that he had discovered an unmet business opportunity to expand the market of private ocean exploration. He believed that this industry had been held back by two principal factors: submersibles having an unwarranted reputation as dangerous vehicles, due to their use as ferries for commercial divers, and rigid government regulations that inhibited innovation within the industry.

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In 2019 Rush expressed the view that the Passenger Vessel Safety Act of 1993 "needlessly prioritized passenger safety over commercial innovation", building on earlier assertions, including statements on the OceanGate website, which noted in 2011 that "since 1974, there has not been a serious injury or fatality on an ABS certified passenger submersible", and an address before The Explorers Club in 2017, where he called submersibles "the safest vehicles on the planet". Non-certified vehicles were more dangerous, as demonstrated by at least one fatality involving a homemade submersible in 1990.

A visit to RMS Titanic

A visit to RMS Titanic

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A visit to RMS Titanic

He later commissioned a marketing study which concluded there was sufficient demand for underwater ocean tourism which would in turn support the development of new, deep-diving submersibles that would enable lucrative commercial ventures including resource mining and disaster mitigation. The underwater tourism industry began in 1986 when Atlantis Adventures (now Atlantis Submarines) began providing submersible tours of the coral reefs near Grand Cayman Island. In 2003, more than two million passengers collectively paid US$150 million to ride underwater in submersibles, although these generally were operated in shallow depths.

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Atlantis Submarine Ride in Aruba 2021

Atlantis Submarine Ride in Aruba 2021

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Atlantis Submarine Ride in Aruba 2021

Atlantis Submarine Honolulu Waikiki Hawaii

Atlantis Submarine Honolulu Waikiki Hawaii

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OceanGate was founded by Guillermo Söhnlein and Stockton Rush in Seattle in 2009. According to Söhnlein, the company was founded with the intention of creating a small fleet of 5-person commercial submersibles that could be leased by any organization or group of individuals. In 2023 he told Sky News, "The whole intent was to create these worked subs. And in that way, as our tagline was in the early days, 'Open the oceans for all of humanity.'"

Atlantis Submarine Honolulu Waikiki Hawaii

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The company's first submersible was Antipodes, a used 5-person vessel with a steel hull. Between 2010 and 2013 the company carried out an estimated 130 dives with Antipodes. The company's business model involved renting its submersible out for hire to researchers and transporting tourists, who the company referred to as "citizen scientists" for underwater excursions. Söhnlein estimated in 2012 that passengers typically paid between $7,500 and $40,000 per person per excursion depending on the trip.

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OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush is framed by a carbon-composite cylinder that will serve as the heart of the Cyclops 2 submersible. (GeekWire Photo / Alan Boyle)

OceanGate's first tourist excursion was conducted in 2010 when the company began transporting its first paying customers. The company transported tourist groups to Catalina Island off the coast of California. To improve the tourist experience, the company began bringing expert guides aboard the dives. According to Rush, "People would ask me about a fish, and I wouldn't know anything about it." The company first brought marine biologists on as expert guides and according to Rush "The difference was night and day. Their excitement permeated the sub."

Catalina Island Semi Submarine Tour

Catalina Island Semi Submarine Tour

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In 2010 OceanGate worked with the University of Washington for the first time. The university utilized Antipodes to conduct trials of novel sonar equipment and robotic arms. In 2011 Antipodes was used to survey and map the wreckage of the SS Governor, a ship that had sunk in Puget Sound in 1921. In 2012 and 2013 OceanGate operated for a year in Miami, Florida. Collaborating with Miami-Dade Artificial Reefs Program, researchers aboard Antipodes investigated the spread of lionfish.

Catalina Island Semi Submarine Tour

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University of Washington.

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On March 1st, 1921, the SS GOVERNOR, a 417-foot long passenger liner, steamed towards Seattle from San Francisco. After dropping off passengers at Victoria, Canada, the GOVERNOR turned south towards Puget Sound. When rounding the point towards Port Townsend, the WEST HARTLAND hit the GOVERNOR midships in foggy weather on the starboard side. The electricity went out immediately and the ship was taking water fast. In order to avoid immediate sinking, the Captain of the WEST HARTLAND kept the hole in the GOVERNOR plugged by keeping his ship in position and allowing the crew and passengers to jump over. Except eight casualties, all were able to board the WEST HARTLAND. Within 20 minutes of the collision the GOVERNOR went down by the stern, the bow high in the air and disappeared in 240 feet deep waters of Puget Sound with all treasures and contents aboard. Several attempts, starting from 1976, were made to retrieve the safe, containing and estimated 1.500.000 dollars, but none of them were successful. Nobody reported having found the bullion in the dark and deep waters off Point Wilson. 

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OceanGate worked on the design of its first custom-built submersible Cyclops, later called Cyclops 1, in collaboration with the University of Washington and Boeing. The hull was planned to be a carbon fiber hull, but OceanGate instead acquired a 12-year-old vessel Lula from a company in Azores. It extracted the cylindrical steel hull of the Lula and used it to create Cyclops 1. Cyclops was unveiled in 2015. The same year, the company moved its headquarters to the Port of Everett in Everett, Washington.

Stockton Rush, the C.E.O. of OceanGate, on the company’s submersible Antipodes, off Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in 2013.Credit...Wilfredo Lee/Associated Press

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This is a modified Perry submarine that enables commercial and scientific applications for scientists, filmmakers, and researchers. It is having twin 58-inch hemispherical acrylic domes that provide exceptional views. It served a 200-foot super-yacht as a toy. This submarine is ABS class certified.

Click image left for more details..

Passengers: Five (5)
Operating Depth: 300 Meter
View Ports: Twin 58-inch hemispherical domes
Size: 13.6ft(l) x 8.3ftM(b) x 8.7ft(h)
Weight: 6.35 Tons
Speed: 3 Knot
Class: ABS
Support: Complete start-up support available
STATUS: This submarine is in ready to dive condition and available for immediate delivery.

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PORT OF EVERETT MARINA

The Port of Everett is a public seaport authority located on Port Gardner Bay in Everett, Washington, United States. Founded in 1918, it operates a small cargo terminal, a public marina, waterfront real estate, and public recreational lands. The Port of Everett is the third-largest container port in the state of Washington, behind Tacoma and Seattle.

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OceanGate ordered the first titanium components for Cyclops 2 in December 2016, and let a contract to Spencer Composites in January 2017 to design and build the cylindrical carbon fiber hull. In March 2018, Cyclops 2 was renamed to Titan; and Rush described it as "an amazing engineering feat" during its launch in 2018. Testing of Titan to its maximum intended depth of 4,000 m (13,000 ft) occurred in 2018 and 2019.

Titan had a maximum depth of 13,000 feet just short of the Titanic sea bed of 12,500 feet. Stockton Rush was criticised for using Carbon Fibre for the hull as it can shatter under extreme pressure. I believe Rush chose Carbon Fiber because of it's buoyancy capabilities, light weight compared to Titanium, thus the sub would perform at speed when ascending and also when exploring the sea bed.. The single port hole was made of acrylic and was only certified to a maximum depth of 4000 feet, The titanic lay's on the seabed at 12,500 feet approximately..

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OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, left, chats with GeekWire’s Alan Boyle during a 2019 Cyclops dive. (GeekWire File Photo / Kevin Lisota)

In 2019, OceanGate said they were planning to develop the successor Cyclops 3 and Cyclops 4 submersibles with a targeted maximum depth of 6,000 m (20,000 ft),and in early 2020 announced that the development and manufacturing of the hulls will be performed at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The submersibles would be funded through a new round of investments by "100% insiders" totaling $18.1 million, as announced in January 2020. NASA's participation was under a Space Act Agreement intended to further "deep-space exploration goals" and "improve materials and manufacturing for American industry" according to John Vickers. In spring 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, OceanGate applied for, and received, a PPP loan for approx. $450,000, based on 22 jobs. In 2021, OceanGate conducted its first dive to the Titanic aboard its submersible Titan.

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The George C. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), located in Redstone Arsenal, Alabama (Huntsville postal address), is the U.S. government's civilian rocketry and spacecraft propulsion research center. As the largest NASA center, MSFC's first mission was developing the Saturn launch vehicles for the Apollo program. Marshall has been the lead center for the Space Shuttle main propulsion and external tank; payloads and related crew training; International Space Station (ISS) design and assembly; computers, networks, and information management; and the Space Launch System (SLS). Located on the Redstone Arsenal near Huntsville, MSFC is named in honor of General of the Army George C. Marshall.

Marshall is Powering the Future of Space Exploration

Marshall is Powering the Future of Space Exploration

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Marshall is Powering the Future of Space Exploration

The Titan Submersible's entrance dome was securely fastened with 18 bolts once all passengers were aboard.. There was no way to escape the craft except from the people who fitted the bolts.. The Titan had 96 hours of sustainable oxygen with Co2 scrubbers and also spare air tanks under the floor. 2 batteries powered the craft, When descending the sub would switch off the lights to conserve battery power, the craft had 40,000 lumens of light. Passengers must take there shoes off and sit on the floor cross legged for many hours.. The temperature at the bottom of the Atlantic ocean was around 2c so very cold, Passengers were told to wear thick clothing..

OceanGate owned three submersibles. The Cyclops 1 and Titan submersibles were launched and recovered from a dry dock-like "Launch and Recovery Platform" that could be towed behind a commercial vessel. Once the platform and submersible reach the target location, the platform's flotation tanks are flooded and it sinks below the surface turbulence to a depth of 9 m (30 ft). The submersible then lifts off for its underwater mission. Upon the submersible's return to the platform, the flotation tanks are pumped out and the platform can be taken back into tow or brought aboard the host vessel. That allows OceanGate to use vessels without human-rated cranes. The platform is approximately 11 m (35 ft) long and 4.6 m (15 ft) wide and can lift up to 9,100 kg (20,000 lb); it is based on a concept developed by the Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory.

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Launch and recovery platform.. 

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Antipodes is a steel-hulled submersible capable of reaching depths of 300 meters (1,000 ft), acquired by OceanGate in 2010. OceanGate transported its first paying customers in the vessel in 2010 off the coast of Catalina Island in California. The submersible was later contracted to expeditions to explore corals, lionfish populations in Florida, and a former oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. By 2013 OceanGate had made over 130 dives with the vessel. The deeper you go into the oceans depth's the more dangerous it becomes, The pressure builds with each millimeter of progress..

In March 2015, OceanGate unveiled the Cyclops 1, a 5-person steel-hulled submersible capable of diving up to 500 meters (1,640 ft) under water. It measures approximately 6.7 m (22 feet) long and 2.7 m (9 feet) wide, and weighs about 9,100 kg (20,000 pounds). Its name was inspired by its strengthened acrylic window. The submersible is steered by a modified wireless game controller, and the vessel has a battery life of up to eight hours. The vessel has been used for various commercial and academic expeditions.

Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory

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OceanGate created Cyclops 1 in collaboration with the University of Washington's Applied Physics Laboratory; Boeing worked with OceanGate and the University of Washington for initial design analysis. In the initial design, the hull was to be made of carbon fiber, but this idea was scrapped in favor of a steel hull. OceanGate acquired the steel hull for Cyclops 1 in 2013, after it had been used for 12 years, and fitted it with a new interior, underwater sensors, and gamepad pilot control system.

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In June 2016 Cyclops 1 was used to survey the wreck of SS Andrea Doria 73 m (240 feet) below the surface. The survey data were intended to build a computer model of the wreck and its surroundings to improve navigation. In 2019 the craft was used to transport researchers to the bottom of Puget Sound to conduct marine biology surveys.

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SS Andrea Doria, was a luxury transatlantic ocean liner of the Italian Line (Società di navigazione Italia), put into service in 1953. She is widely known from the extensive media coverage of her sinking in 1956, which included the remarkably successful rescue of 1,660 of her 1,706 passengers and crew. Named after the 16th-century Genoese admiral Andrea Doria, the ship had a gross register tonnage of 29,100 and a capacity of about 1200 passengers and 500 crew. Of all Italy's ships at the time, Andrea Doria was the largest, fastest and supposedly safest. Launched on 16 June 1951, she was home-ported in Genoa, and began her maiden voyage on 14 January 1953.

The Story Of The Andrea Doria

The Story Of The Andrea Doria

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The Story Of The Andrea Doria

On 25 July 1956, the New York City–bound vessel was approaching the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts, United States, when the eastbound passenger liner Stockholm of the Swedish American Line collided with her. Struck in her starboard side, the top-heavy Andrea Doria immediately started to list severely that way as she took on water, which left half of her lifeboats unusable. The consequent shortage of lifeboats could have resulted in significant loss of life, but the ship stayed afloat for over 11 hours after the collision. 

The calm, appropriate behavior of the crew, together with improvements in communications, and the rapid response of other ships, averted a disaster similar in scale to that of Titanic in 1912. While 1,660 passengers and crew were rescued and survived, 46 people on the ship died as a direct consequence of the collision. The evacuated luxury liner capsized and sank the following morning. This accident remains the worst maritime disaster to occur in United States waters since the capsizing of the Eastland in Chicago in 1915.

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Titan (known as Cyclops 2 until 2018) was the second submersible designed and built by OceanGate, the first privately-owned submersible with an intended maximum depth of 4,000 m (13,000 ft).[47] It also was the first completed crewed submersible that used a hull constructed of titanium and carbon fiber composite materials, as most other human-carrying submersibles are designed with an all-metal pressure vessel.

5 people lost there lives when the Titan submersible violently imploded 12,000 feet below sea level..

On June 18, 2023, OceanGate lost contact with Titan during its dive in 2023 to the Titanic. Loss-of-contact had occurred multiple times during previous test and tour dives, so OceanGate did not alert authorities until the submersible was overdue for its return. A massive international search and rescue operation ensued and ended on June 22, 2023 when debris from Titan, which had been destroyed in a catastrophic implosion, was discovered about 500 meters (1,600 ft) in front of the bow of Titanic.

LEAKED Titan Sub Transcript Shows Crew In Battle For Lives

LEAKED Titan Sub Transcript Shows Crew In Battle For Lives

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LEAKED Titan Sub Transcript Shows Crew In Battle For Lives

OceanGate’s submersibles are the only known vessels to use real-time (RTM) hull health monitoring. With this RTM system, we can determine if the hull is compromised well before situations become life-threatening, and safely return to the surface. This innovative safety system is not currently covered by any classing agency.

Given that Stockton Rush risked and lost his own life, he must have believed these words. He ignored pleas from others in the industry that what he was doing was unsafe. What was he thinking?

My visit to the Titanic wreckage in a Submersible 20+ years ago [FULL INTERVIEW]

My visit to the Titanic wreckage in a Submersible 20+ years ago [FULL INTERVIEW]

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KPRC’s Derrick Shore visited the Titanic wreckage in a Submersible 20+ years ago [FULL INTERVIEW]

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Derrick Shore is a three-time Emmy® winning reporter/producer and recipient of three LA Press Club Awards and two Golden Mics for his work as a journalist. He is also a 2016 LA Press Club "TV Journalist of the Year" nominee.
Derrick was the first TV journalist to travel to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean to see the wreckage of the Titanic and the youngest to fly in an F-16 with the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds. After the terrorist attacks of September 11th he reported for the WB television special "The Day It All Changed.”His assignments have taken him from LA's skid row to the red carpet at the Oscars® to the White House to international destinations in Asia, Africa, Europe, South America and Australia to cover breaking news and features. From rushing to natural disasters to eating bugs to digging through processed human waste, he doesn’t mind getting his hands dirty.Derrick graduated at the top of his class from UCLA with a B.A. in Cultural Studies.

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Paul-Henry Nargeolet

The five people who died on the Titan submersible were "true explorers", the company who operated the dive has said. The men "shared a distinct spirit of adventure," said OceanGate in a statement.The five died in what the US Coast Guard believes was a catastrophic implosion.

The men on board the sub included Stockton Rush, the 61-year-old CEO of OceanGate, British-Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his son Suleman, 19, and British businessman Hamish Harding, 58. The fifth man on board, Paul-Henry Nargeolet, was a 77-year-old former French navy diver and renowned explorer.

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Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his son Suleman, 19

Dawood and his family departed from their residence in London and journeyed to Canada for the duration of one month. Shahzada, with a "years long passion for science and discovery," booked tickets for himself and his nineteen-year-old son, Suleman, over Father's Day weekend to embark on the Titan submersible to view the wreck of the Titanic, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean in 1912 after it hit an iceberg. The dive, which was expected to bring the travelers to a depth of 3,800 metres (12,500 ft), began on the morning of 18 June 2023 and was expected to last eight hours. Approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes after beginning the descent, the Titan lost contact with the surface ship, the MV Polar Prince. Search and rescue missions involved water and air support from the United States, Canada and France.

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Hamish Harding

George Hamish Livingston Harding (24 June 1964 – 18 June 2023) was a British businessman, pilot, and adventurer based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). He was the founder of Action Group and was chairman of Action Aviation, an international aircraft brokerage company with headquarters in Dubai. A member of The Explorers Club, he visited the South Pole several times, descended to the Challenger Deep of the Mariana Trench, travelled into space, and held three Guinness World Records. Harding died with four others inside the Titan submersible that imploded in the North Atlantic Ocean while en route to view the wreck of the Titanic.

Missing Sub: Former Titan passenger 'couldn't get comfortable with design'

Missing Sub: Former Titan passenger 'couldn't get comfortable with design'

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Missing Sub: Former Titan passenger 'couldn't get comfortable with design'

Bill Paxton on Fearing Titanic Submersible Dives (Flashback)

Bill Paxton on Fearing Titanic Submersible Dives (Flashback)

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Bill Paxton on Fearing Titanic Submersible Dives (Flashback)

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Journey to Titanic with Renata Rojas

Journey to Titanic with Renata Rojas

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Journey to Titanic with Renata Rojas

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Renata Rojas visited the wreckage of the RMS Titanic with OceanGate Expeditions, the same company that operated the currently missing sub, in 2022. 

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Missing Titanic Submersible: U.S. Coast Guard Gives Update On Search

Missing Titanic Submersible: U.S. Coast Guard Gives Update On Search

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Missing Titanic Submersible: U.S. Coast Guard Gives Update On Search

MISSING SUBMARINE | Member of 2022 Oceangate Titanic mission on safety of the dive

MISSING SUBMARINE | Member of 2022 Oceangate Titanic mission on safety of the dive

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MISSING SUBMARINE | Member of 2022 Oceangate Titanic mission on safety of the dive

Titanic Sub Tourism Expedition - Exclusive Footage (My Personal Experience)

Titanic Sub Tourism Expedition - Exclusive Footage (My Personal Experience)

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Titanic Sub Tourism Expedition - Exclusive Footage (My Personal Experience)

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The decommissioned icebreaker Polar Prince assisted in recovery efforts for the doomed submersible Titan.

Daniel William McKnight for NY Post

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As the Polar Prince arrives back in harbor an empty launch platform is quietly towed behind it.
Daniel William McKnight for NY Post

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The Polar Prince was a Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker before being decommissioned and later used as a support ship for OceanGate.

REUTERS

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The Polar Prince arrived at St John's Harbor in Newfoundland Saturday morning June 24th 2023, with a photo showing its empty platform.
Daniel William McKnight for NY Post - A sad and lonely Polar Prince returns to port St John's Harbor in Newfoundland without Titan and 5 crew including Stockton Rush CEO of OceanGate..

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The oceans cover 70% of the world’s surface, and despite what you have seen on nature documentaries, most of the ocean is empty, dark, cold, and void of mammalian life. However, unlike the land, the ocean exists in three dimensions. With the deepest point in the ocean at 36,198 feet (11,033 m,) and the average depth of the ocean over 12,000 feet, the ocean’s make up something close to 99% of the Earth’s livable habitat. Scientists have been able to look at the ocean in a vertical profile and have found that it is divided into a series of layers (based on temperature, light penetration, and the presence of a bottom). These layers are in many respects independent of each other, creating a series of unique ecosystems at each depth. Nearly 90% of the ocean’s space is found below 1000 meters.  That means that 90% of the ocean, is uniformly cold, dark, and under extreme pressure.

Much of the ocean is also under bone-crushing pressure. The pressure you and I experience at sea level is referred to as one atmosphere. As you swim down to the bottom of a pool you may notice the pressure increasing – you can feel it in your ears. In fact, for every ten meters of depth the pressure increases by one atmosphere. Pressure at the deepest point in the ocean is over 1100 times greater than at the surface. Significantly increased pressures can cause deformations in the large organic molecules that make up cells. We are still not sure how deep sea species can endure these deformations, but it is possible that they are using small organic molecules called “piezolytes” to provide some type of protection to the larger molecules of their cells.

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If we could drain the oceans, we would see some amazing geology; the Earths’s tallest mountain (Mauna Kea, Hawaii, rises 33,474 feet from its base on the ocean floor), the longest range of mountains (the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, at almost 40,000 miles long), and the deepest canyon (Mariana Trench in the western Pacific). We would also see huge pancake-flat basins, violently erupting volcanoes, and nearly every other geological feature found on the continents but magnified in size and scope.

Mauna Kea, Hawaii

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Snorkelling and Diving in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge in Iceland

On January 23, 1960, the crew of the Trieste reached the bottom of the Challenger Deep in the Pacific Ocean’s Mariana Trench and set a deep diving record — 35,810 feet. Many oceanographers believed this record would never be broken. Pressures at this depth are well over 1000 times greater than at sea level, but Canadian film maker, James Cameron, broke that record in a solo dive during the spring of 2012. He did so using a custom-built submersible that was unlike anything that had been used before. Breaking a tradition of solid steel balls with small thick glass windows, Cameron’s sub is sleek and streamlined. 

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Trieste is a Swiss-designed, Italian-built deep-diving research bathyscaphe

To descend, a bathyscaphe floods air tanks with sea water, but unlike a submarine the water in the flooded tanks cannot be displaced with compressed air to ascend, because the water pressures at the depths for which the craft was designed to operate are too great. For example, the pressure at the bottom of the Challenger Deep is more than seven times that in a standard "H-type" compressed gas cylinder. Instead, ballast in the form of iron shot is released to ascend, the shot being lost to the ocean floor. The iron shot containers are in the form of one or more hoppers which are open at the bottom throughout the dive, the iron shot being held in place by an electromagnet at the neck. This is a fail-safe device as it requires no power to ascend; in fact, in the event of a power failure, shot runs out by gravity and ascent is automatic.

The crew of the Trieste, which was equipped with a powerful light, noted that the seafloor consisted of diatomaceous ooze and reported observing "some type of flatfish, resembling a sole, about 1 foot long and 6 inches across" (30 by 15 cm) lying on the seabed. This put to rest the question of whether or not there was life at such a depth in the complete absence of light.

What Happens When a Submarine Implodes

What Happens When a Submarine Implodes

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What Happens When a Submarine Implodes.

People who witnessed the Titan first hand expressed there concerns over how it was constructed.. For instance the led lighting was purchased from Camper World.. Ballasts were old scafolding tubes and the crew would have to lean to one side when the ballasts were released.. Controls were from a logitec controller similar to playstation. Each time the submersible made a dive down to the titanic wreck it stressed the hull each time and this made the submersible weaker. Noises heard from inside the hull were dismissed as normal but were surely a sign that the hull was fractured or impaired..

"Rescue turned to recovery": Titanic sub search crews recounts emotional discovery of debris | FULL

"Rescue turned to recovery": Titanic sub search crews recounts emotional discovery of debris | FULL

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"Rescue turned to recovery": Titanic sub search crews recounts emotional discovery of debris | FULL

Should the Carbon fiber have been woven rather than layered around, Maybe the steel hull should of been thicker or even titanium.. The dome ends were glued down to the central hull, maybe there should of been more surface to metal contact and better adhesive.. The acrylic portal viewing hole should have been replaced to meet a certified 13,000 feet depth or more.. That to me was a big flaw and probably contributed to the tragedy.. The submersible had to withstand a pressure of 6000psi.. 

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Everett company dives deep as it explores the Titanic and shares knowledge with others - New Day NW

Everett company dives deep as it explores the Titanic and shares knowledge with others - New Day NW

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Everett company dives deep as it explores the Titanic and shares knowledge with others - New Day NW

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David Lochridge, OceanGate’s former director of marine operations, raised the alarm about the way the company was constructing its Titanic-bound submersible.

OceanGate

Back in 2018, OceanGate’s then-director of marine operations, David Lochridge, had written an engineering report that said the craft under development needed more testing and that passengers might be endangered when it reached “extreme depths,” according to a lawsuit filed that year in US District Court in Seattle. OceanGate sued Lochridge that year, accusing him of breaching a non-disclosure agreement, and he filed a counterclaim alleging that he was wrongfully fired for raising questions about testing and safety. The case settled on undisclosed terms several months after it was filed.

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Lochridge's concerns primarily focused on the company's decision to rely on sensitive acoustic monitoring — cracking or popping sounds made by the hull under pressure — to detect flaws, rather than a scan of the hull. Lochridge said the company told him no equipment existed that could perform such a test on the 5-inch-thick (12.7-centimetre-thick) carbon-fibre hull.

“This was problematic because this type of acoustic analysis would only show when a component is about to fail — often milliseconds before an implosion — and would not detect any existing flaws prior to putting pressure onto the hull,” Lochridge's counterclaim said.

Lochridge warned others at the company about “quality control and safety” problems as far back as 2018, but when he raised his agrievances with Stockton Rush an argument began..Stockton Rush would not back down and eventually “OceanGate gave Lochridge approximately 10 minutes to immediately clear out his desk and exit the premises,” his attorneys said in the filing. The paying passengers would not be aware, and would not be informed, of this experimental design, the lack of non-destructive testing of the hull, or that hazardous flammable materials were being used within the submersible.” Soon after Lochridge’s firing, Rush asked the company’s finance and administrations director if she would like to take on the role. “It freaked me out that he would want me to be head pilot, since my background is in accounting,” the unnamed former director told the New Yorker, adding that without Lochridge there, she felt she had to quit.

The making of Titan: Oceangate's submersible capable of taking people to the Titanic

The making of Titan: Oceangate's submersible capable of taking people to the Titanic

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The making of Titan: Oceangate's submersible capable of taking people to the Titanic.

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Dr Michael Recounts Trapped Titanic Submersible Experience 23 Years Ago | Good Morning Britain

Dr Michael Recounts Trapped Titanic Submersible Experience 23 Years Ago | Good Morning Britain

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Dr Michael Recounts Trapped Titanic Submersible Experience 23 Years Ago | Good Morning Britain

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"We were just fortunate. There was a better part of an hour we were stuck. And I already pretty much had said my goodbyes in my mind. I'll never forget this thought that came to my head: this is how it's going to end for you. But in the end, we sensed that something changed... there was a sense that we were floating, '' he said.

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Notable is the fact that in the 2000s, only France and Russia had submersibles that could float under intense water pressure.

Dr Michael Guillen, is a scientist and was the first TV reporter to visit the Titanic wreckage site. He recounts his experience of getting stuck in a submarine. In 2000, Dr. Michael Guillen attempted to explore the Titanic wreckage in a Russian submersible and was trapped for over an hour. Dr. Michel Guillen was the science editor for the ABC network at the time. During an interview with BBC Radio 4, he stated that he was the first correspondent to ever report from the site of the Titanic's debris. Dr Michael Guillen stated that he traveled in a Russian submersible that was dropped from the Akademik Mstislav Keldysh research ship, accompanied by his diving companion Brian and a Russian pilot Viktor. According to Dr. Guillen, a collision occurred when they were near the stern of the Titanic wreckage site, and big pieces of the rusty Titanic began falling on top of their submersible. He further explained that the submersible got stranded because the underwater current was so strong that it was impossible to fly over the debris area.

Dr. Michael Guillen was born in East Los Angeles and had a tremendous passion for science. He graduated from UCLA with a B.S. in physics and mathematics, then went on to Cornell, where he obtained an M.S. in experimental physics and a 3D Ph.D. in physics, mathematics, and astronomy. Following that, he served as a physics instructor at Harvard University for eight years, where his work was widely praised.

Oceangate Titanic sub: Former passenger recalls 2021 ride | LiveNOW from FOX

Oceangate Titanic sub: Former passenger recalls 2021 ride | LiveNOW from FOX

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Titan Wreckage Analyzed: What Has Been Recovered and What Does it Mean?

Titan Wreckage Analyzed: What Has Been Recovered and What Does it Mean?

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Oceangate Titanic sub: Former passenger recalls 2021 ride | LiveNOW from FOX

Titan Wreckage Analyzed: What Has Been Recovered and What Does it Mean?

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