Titanic Sub: Physicist Calls For End To Titanic Tourism

Topline

Four days into the frantic search for the missing Titan submersible that lost connection with a surface vessel on its descent to the wreck of the R.M.S. Titanic, questions have emerged over the submersible’s safety and one physicist has called for an end to the tourist voyages more than 2 miles below the ocean’s surface.

One physicist called for an end to Titanic tourism as the search for a missing submersible enters a … [+] so-called critical point.

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Key Facts

Former Harvard University physics instructor Michael Guillen told British outlet GB News on Thursday researchers may never find the submersible and “may never know what went wrong” with the vessel, which industry leaders have speculated likely became entrapped along the seafloor or suffered a mechanical meltdown causing it to lose connection with a ship at the surface, roughly 900 miles east of Cape Cod.

Guillen, who descended to the wreck of the Titanic aboard a scientific research vessel in 2000, criticized the submersible deployed by OceanGate on Sunday as one “designed primarily for tourism,” compared to the vessel he boarded, which he called a “serious vessel created by serious-minded people.”

Speaking to GB News, Guillen called for restrictions to undersea tourism, warning the ocean is a “merciless beast” and the Titanic’s wreck is “sacred ground,” saying: “Certainly we need to stop—pause—all trips to the Titanic.”

Key Background

Guillen’s plea comes as rescue workers from the U.S., Canada and France converge in a remote area of the Atlantic to search for OceanGate’s missing submersible, though researchers face an array of challenges, including nearly 10-foot seas and stormy conditions at the surface, as well as the daunting task of finding a small submersible nearly 13,000 feet below the surface in an area roughly the size of Connecticut. Researchers reached a critical period Thursday morning, when the five passengers’ estimated 96 hours of usable oxygen is believed to have expired, and as near-freezing temperatures create an additional risk to the people on board. On Wednesday, however, a Canadian military P-3 maritime surveillance plane detected what appeared to be knocking sounds deep underwater, narrowing rescuers’ search area and giving them an indication where the missing sub could be—though finding it, and reeling it to the surface, poses another massive undertaking.

Chief Critic

A group of industry professionals from the Marine Technology Society had also doubted the safety of OceanGate Expeditions’ submersible, warning in a letter to the company in 2018 that the sub did not meet industry standards and could encounter “minor to catastrophic” outcomes. The society urged the company to submit the sub—which is controlled by a single button—for additional review, according to the letter, which was obtained by the New York Times earlier this week. (OceanGate wrote one year later that it was mitigating the risks associated with the submersible.)

Crucial Quote

“Keep in mind that it took 73 years—73 years—for us to discover the wreck of the Titanic, and it’s huge,” Guillen told GB News, asking: “What are the odds that we will ever find this this tiny craft that is like a mosquito in size by comparison if we cannot locate it?”