With limited line of sight beyond the few metres illuminated by the truck-sized submersible's onboard lights, navigating at this depth is a challenging task, making it easy to become disoriented on the seabed. Previous expeditions to the wreck site have described descending for more than two hours through total darkness before the ocean floor suddenly appears beneath the lights of the submersible. The Titanic lies within a region known as the "midnight zone" for this very reason. Beyond this point, the ocean is in perpetual darkness. Sunlight is very quickly absorbed by water and is unable to penetrate much deeper than about 1,000m (3,300ft) from the surface. With the disappearance of a five-person submersible while carrying paying passengers on a trip to the Titanic wreck, the BBC looks at what this region of the ocean floor is like. But the Titanic's final resting place carries dangers of its own, meaning visits to the world's most famous shipwreck present a significant challenge. Icebergs still pose a hazard to shipping – in 2019 1,515 icebergs drifted far enough south to enter transatlantic shipping lanes during the months of March to August. The wreck now lies nearly 3.8km (12,500ft) beneath the waves at a site nearly 400 miles (640km) southeast of the Newfoundland coast. In under three hours the ship had sunk, taking more than 1,500 passengers and crew to their deaths.
Then, on the cold, moonless night on 14 April 1912, a 125m-long (410ft) iceberg – all that remained of the estimated 500m (1,640ft) chunk of ice that left a fjord in Greenland the previous year – collided with the passenger ship RMS Titanic as it made its maiden voyage from Southampton in the UK to New York, USA. Over the following months, it slowly drifted south, melting gradually as it was carried by the ocean currents and the wind. The document added that he believed the company could "subject passengers to potential extreme danger in an experimental submersible."ĭavid alleged in the court filing that he had been wrongfully terminated and that his actions were aimed at ensuring the safety of passengers on the Titan.At some point in Autumn 1911, an enormous chunk of ice cleaved away from a glacier on the southwest of Greenland's vast ice sheet. "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," Lochridge's legal filing stated. In 2018, OceanGate fired and sued David Lochridge, their director of marine operations, after they claimed he breached his non-disclosure agreement for saying passengers might be endangered in the craft when it reached "extreme depths."Īccording to a lawsuit, David's scathing assessment to senior leadership said there were "visible flaws" in the ship’s carbon fibre hull, "prevalent flaws" in a scale model, flammable materials onboard and key safety documents that were not shared with him. PA) 'Extreme' danger warning five years ago Other guests on previous trips said there were continual failures including radio outages and flickering lights. As I was getting on the submarine, this could be the end." "On the list, they mention death three times on page one and it's never far from your mind. Mike said: "To get on the boat that takes you to the Titanic, you sign a massive waiver that you could die on the trip.
Simpsons writer Mike Reiss who also went on the trip has since expressed past safety fears and said it was "remarkable how basic and simple the whole operation" was. "'It has not been approved or certified by any regulatory body, and could result in physical injury, disability, motion trauma, or death,'” he read aloud to CBS, before jokingly adding, "Where do I sign?"ĭavid said he was horrified to find the inside of the sub was similar to the size of a minivan and he said they use "off-the-shelf components" and lights from Camping World. Journalist David Pogue joined OceanGate on an expedition to the North Atlantic and kept the forms he had to sign before taking the expedition. It has been revealed that travellers were warned before boarding the submarine that the vessel had not been approved or certified by any regulatory body and the trip could result in death.
EyePress News/REX/Shutterstock) Signing your life away
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