As it turns out, tourists who pay $250,000 to dive nearly 13,000 feet below sea level to view the wreck of the Titanic must sign a waiver, accepting that the submersible has not been approved by any regulatory body.
OceanGate Expeditions was founded in 2009 to show wealthy explorers the ship that struck an iceberg and sank in 1912. The wreck was not located until 1985 when it was found 350 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.
Tourists have been visiting it for decades, often in enormously powerful but internally rudimentary submersibles.
But those who board the submersible must sign a waiver that states, “This experimental vessel has not been approved or certified by any regulatory agency and could result in physical injury, emotional trauma or death.”
OceanGate’s submersible was designed by the company to travel nearly 13,000 feet below sea level to the wreck of the Titanic – but it has “not been approved or certified by any regulatory body and could result in physical injury, emotional trauma or death.”
David Pogue, a CBS journalist, is seen inside the submersible. He descended to see the Titanic last year
The submersible’s controller comes from a video game phone
David Pogue, a Sunday correspondent for CBS News, took part in an OceanGate expedition last year and shared his experience in November.
“It struck me how many parts of this sub seemed improvised, with off-the-shelf components,” he said.
“The vehicle is controlled with a video game controller.”
Stockton Rush, CEO of OceanGate – believed to be one of the five people on board the missing submarine – told Pogue that the ship was designed with help from NASA, Boeing and a team from the University of Washington.
It was last heard of on Sunday morning, an hour and 45 minutes into its mission.
Reaching the wreck usually takes two and a half hours.
As of Monday afternoon, the submersible had 96 hours of air left, the US Coast Guard said.
But fears are growing that the submersible will implode or sink to the sea floor and become stranded. At these depths, no Coast Guard vessel is able to reach the seabed.
This is the latest sighting of the Titan submersible, which was launched on Sunday. It can be seen in a photo shared by Hamish Harding’s company. He and the four others on board remain missing
The submersible can be seen before setting off on its expedition
The Boston Coast Guard is now searching for the missing ship. The wreck of the iconic ship lies 12,500 feet underwater about 370 miles from Newfoundland, Canada
OceanGate Expeditions is one of the few companies offering these tours. Tickets cost up to $250,000.
The crew dove to the seabed to examine the Titanic wreckage
Pogue said Monday he had been told there were seven ballasts the submersible could drop to float to the top.
“Either they’re floating on the surface and they don’t have power,” he told Chris Cuomo on NewsNation.
“Or something happened that disabled all seven of those ballasts.
“Or the really terrifying possibility is that the pod leaked and it would be dead in a split second.”
Pogue said the expeditions are incredibly risky.
Made of carbon fiber and titanium, the submersible is built to withstand the intense pressure beneath the sea — about 6,000 pounds per inch. It is equipped to communicate with the mother ship via text messages.
Once Pogue was aboard the mothership, the submersible beneath him lost his bearings on the seabed and was unable to locate the wreck — even though the mothership sent messages to the sub, telling it to turn left, right, or straight ahead move.
The mother ship, the MV Polar Prince, departed from Newfoundland on Saturday, bound for the site above the Titanic wreck, 370 miles away
Pogue said the subs are amazingly simple inside.
“These submersibles are one-offs,” he told Cuomo.
“Sometimes they are manipulated. The lights he bought from camperworld.com – something like that.
“Everybody’s like that – James Cameron’s, everybody.”
For the 1997 film Titanic, Cameron made 12 dives to the shipwreck, developing deep-sea films and exploration technology. In total he has made 33 dives to the dive site.
Pogue said any attempt to reach the site is incredibly dangerous.
“This company does multiple expeditions each year and each time parks over the Titanic for five days,” Pogue told Cuomo.
“Usually they arrive on site once or not at all.
“Sometimes twice a week, but never five times because the conditions are never right every day.”
The mother ship, the MV Polar Prince, departed from Newfoundland on Saturday, bound for the site above the Titanic wreck, 370 miles away.
The submersible entered the water in the early hours of Sunday morning.
On board were British billionaire adventurer Hamish Harding, 58; PH Nargeolet, French Navy veteran; and OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush. The other two passengers were not named.
In an interview last year, Rush told CBS News that it was a “very unusual deal.”
He added, “It’s in its own category. It’s a new way of travelling.”
He said their customers are a range of people.
“We have customers who are Titanic enthusiasts who we refer to as Titaniacs.”
“We’ve had people who mortgaged their house and made the trip.” And we have people who don’t think twice about such an expensive trip. “We had a gentleman who had won the lottery.”
The submarine – not a submarine because it is not self-contained and relies on a mother ship – lost contact with the mother ship an hour and 45 minutes after its descent.
Analysts believe it may have lost power or sunk and may have become stuck in the wreck. Some initially suspected it might have surfaced and swayed with no power, but that seems increasingly remote.