The final moments of the Titan would have been swift – and unleashed amid a force difficult to comprehend, experts in physics and submarines told USA TODAY. Pressure at the depth of the Titanic – 12,500 feet down – is nearly 380 times greater than at the surface, said Luc Wille, a professor and chair of physics at Florida Atlantic University.
Even high-grade military submarines don’t wander around the ocean at full depth because it’s just too dangerous, said Eric Fusil, a submarine expert and associate professor at the University of Adelaide’s School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering. It would take about “20 milliseconds to crush a hull” at those depths, Fusil said.
Although the Titan’s composite hull is built to withstand intense deep-sea pressures, any defect in its shape or build would compromise its integrity and increase the risk of implosion, said Professor Stefan Williams, a marine robotics and underwater vessel expert at the University of Sydney.
– Dinah Voyles Pulver, Where the missing sub was found:Debris field confirmed to be missing Titanic submarine. Family members remember victims their Loved ones of the men killed when the submersible imploded are remembering them as adventure-loving. OceanGate, the company that owned the Titan, said they had “a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world’s oceans.”
Hamish Harding, a British explorer and dealer of private jets, “was one of a kind and we adored him,” his family said in a statement. “What he achieved in his lifetime was truly remarkable and if we can take any small consolation from this tragedy, it’s that we lost him doing what he loved.” Another explorer on board, noted Titanic expert Paul-Henry Nargeolet, was “the ultimate prankster and had the BEST sense of humor,” his stepson John Paschall tweeted Friday. Paschall said Nargeolet’s name will “live on in the oceanographic world forever.”
“What makes me feel so fortunate is that I got to have him as a stepdad. He immediately welcomed me as family and our connection only grew stronger through the years,” Paschall said. “I can’t think of anything that I’m aware of that he would enjoy doing more than traveling around and sharing information and his experiences with people,” longtime friend and former colleague Matthew Tulloch said of Nargeolet. Remote-operated vehicle launched on mission to map debris field
The ROV that first discovered the debris from the Titan’s implosion continued its mission Friday to return to the seafloor as part of recovery efforts, the company that owns it said. “The mission is for continued mapping and documentation of the area and assisting in any direct recovery of debris,” Pelagic Research Services spokesperson Jeff Mahoney said in a statement.
The ROV, Odysseus 6K, is the only ROV that has been to the debris site as of Friday, Mahoney said. It launched from the Horizon Arctic vessel in the Northern Atlantic. Pakistani teen was ‘terrified’ of dive, aunt says, A family member of the two Pakistani passengers killed in the dive says her 19-year-old nephew was hesitant to accompany his father on the voyage.
Azmeh Dawood, the older sister of Shahzada Dawood, told NBC News that her nephew, Suleman Dawood, informed a relative that he “wasn’t very up for it” and felt “terrified” about the trip. She told the outlet that Suleman ended up going on the trip because it fell over Father’s Day weekend and he was eager to please his dad, who was passionate about the Titanic. “I feel disbelief,” Azmeh told NBC. “It’s an unreal situation.”
Suleman Dawood was a student at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland, the university confirmed. He just completed his first year in the business school there. The other three people believed to have perished are Stockton Rush, CEO of OceanGate, British adventurer Hamish Harding and French deep-sea explorer and Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet.
“Tragic news that those on the Titan submersible, including three British citizens, have been lost following an international search operation,” U.K. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly wrote on Twitter on Thursday. “The UK government is closely supporting the families affected and expresses our deepest condolences. “Lawsuit still possible despite waivers being signed, OceanGate, the privately-owned company that led the voyage to the wreckage of The Titanic, could face legal action, according to a legal expert.
