Rescuers are searching for a submersible used to take tourists and experts to view the famous shipwreck.
  • misguidedfunk@beehaw.org
    14·
    1 year ago

    No talk of passengers, so at the very least one person is missing, but up to 5. Also they have no other submersible that can reach that depth. From an insurance stance, that sounds like a massive liability risk to undertake, not to mention it’s just unwise.

    • woteorin@beehaw.org
      8·
      1 year ago

      So, in the live feed the BBC has going, there’s a post suggesting that a group of explorers were apparently on board based on one of them’s Facebook feed, so it’s safe to say they probably had the full passenger set on there.

      • RedMarsRepublic@vlemmy.net
        9·
        1 year ago

        Really a stretch to call these people ‘explorers’. Apparently one of them made their billions hawking private jets. Sucks to be him…

        • woteorin@beehaw.org
          4·
          1 year ago

          One of the other posts in the feed makes it sound like they only do it a handful of times a year, and that cost is covering a multi-day excursion since they have to wait for conditions to be right. Still, no excuse to not have contingencies, but I think their take gets eaten into a fair bit more than the raw math would suggest.

          • misguidedfunk@beehaw.org
            5·
            1 year ago

            I wager they don’t have a recovery vessel because they have people sign contracts only allowing arbitration.

            • StringTheory@beehaw.org
              5·
              1 year ago

              The CBS guy read aloud part of the thing he had to sign when he rode on it.

              And the video is horrifying on so many levels…

            • woteorin@beehaw.org
              3·
              1 year ago

              I wouldn’t be surprised. But, I suspect there’s also a factor of just implausibility. Apparently, the main vessel they use is “experimental”, so it may just literally be impossible to have a recovery vessel without being a literal government.

              My money’s on this being the result of someone ignoring the “hey, these are not good conditions” warnings.

                • jellyfish@beehaw.org
                  6·
                  1 year ago

                  The bit with the contract is @ 2:40:

                  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.

                  There was some speculation the pressure vessel could have imploded, due to it being made out of thick fiber glass, which is like glass wherein any tiny imperfection under pressure can cause the entire vessel to break. This is why other pressure vessels are made out of stainless steel, they’re easier to inspect.

                  If the vessel didn’t implode, there’s a decent chance it’s floating on the surface, but lost. This is because the ballast for these subs is heavy metal attached via electromagnet. Should anything go wrong, the magnets can be disengaged, and the sub with resurface.

                  Here’s hoping it’s lost and can be found, imploding is a horrifying way to go, albeit a quick one.

          • schzztl@beehaw.org
            4·
            1 year ago

            According to the CEO the whole business isn’t even profitable. They spent over a million on gas alone. At least this jerryrigged contraption sinking is the most effective way for their company to stop shitting up the atmosphere over the whims of a few rich people.

    • foopac@discuss.tchncs.de
      6·
      1 year ago

      In one article from last year, the reporter said that someone has mortgaged their house to go on the trip. It’s not even rich folks. It’s fucking idiots.

      Still a horrible death, being trapped in a can with no way out.

    • Domi@lemmy.secnd.me
      2·
      1 year ago

      Well, I expected a bit more than an oversized soda can controlled by a knock-off Playstation controller when I heard “sub that can reach the Titanic”.

  • Thorny_Thicket@sopuli.xyz
    8·
    1 year ago

    Just listened a podcast about the deepest ever submarine rescue. It’s pretty much all hands on deck worldwide when a submarine goes missing. Atleast then it was. There aren’t many rescue vessels that can go that deep.

  • woteorin@beehaw.org
    5·
    1 year ago

    BBC’s also got a live feed going for this.

    Apparently, the sub’s supposed to have a suite of systems to more or less warn the pilot if things are looking dicey, so hopefully this is a communications problem and not something worse.