A submersible went missing in the North Atlantic Ocean last Sunday. The sub, operated by a private company called OceanGate, was on a tourist expedition to the wreck of the Titanic. Five people are reported aboard the sub, including OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush. It would be easy to assume the submersible being used for a $250,000 trip to see the Titanic would be state-of-the-art. The vessel, named Titan, is thoroughly engineered in some aspects and cobbled together in some other areas.
Last November, CBS Sunday Morning aired a feature where correspondent David Pogue joined Rush on an earlier expedition to the remains of the legendary ocean liner, offering a close-up view of the Titan. Pogue admitted that he was nervous going down in the submersible. Before signing what appeared to be a waiver, he read a line of a document stating, “An experimental submersible vessel that has not been approved or certified by any regulatory body and could result in physical injury, disability, emotional trauma, or death.”
According to OceanGate, the Titan can safely reach a depth of around 13,100 feet. The submersible’s hull was designed in collaboration with Boeing, NASA and the University of Washington. Though, Pogue mentioned that OceanGate was using construction pipes as ballast. The hull is a tube of five-inch thick carbon fiber capped on both ends with titanium. Once the titanium hatch is fitted in place by 17 bolts from the outside, there’s no way anyone inside the vessel can escape.
The Titan’s interior is largely equipped with off-the-shelf parts. The vessel is piloted using a video game controller, specifically a Logitech F710 Wireless Gamepad. The controller was first released in 2011, costs $40 and is powered by two AA batteries. Rush said in the CBS feature that operating the Titan should be like riding an elevator and not take a lot of skill. The Titan does have a push-button start. The button looks straight from an elevator and can be bought on Amazon for $15.49.
On one of the trips to the Titanic seen on CBS Sunday Morning, the submersible does get lost. The Titan is guided by text message to the sunken ocean liner and the communications system stopped working. It isn’t clear what happened last Sunday, and the search for the Titan is still ongoing.