Not A Submarine, A Titan That Disappears On Its Way To The Ruins OfTEN Is Classified As A Submersible

Submersible Titan. (Twitter/@OceanGateExped)

JAKARTA - Titan, a lost underwater vehicle in the wreckage area of theUSH ship in the North Atlantic on Monday, was classified as a submersible, a ship designed to operate underwater, but does not function as an autonomous ship, but relies on a launch support platform and returns after launch.

According to the website of the tourism company operating Titan, OceanGate Expeditions of Everett, Washington, the missing vessel is a submersible capable of bringing five one pilot and four crew members to a depth of 4,000 meters, or more than 13,100 feet for surveys and site inspections, research and data collection, film and media production, as well as hardware and software testing at the deep sea," as quoted by the Seattle Times via The New York Times June 21.

Submersible, unlike submarines, does not have enough power to launch itself into the sea and return by itself, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) explains on its website, reported by the New York Post.

Made from titanium and carbon fiber, weighing about 21,000 pounds and registered at 22 feet x 9.2 feet x 8.3 feet, with a life support capability of 96 hours for five people.

Titan, one of three manned submersible types operated by OceanGate, is equipped with a platform similar to the dry dock of the ship launching and restoring the ship, the website said.

"This platform is used to launch and recover manned submersibles by flooding its calcification tanks with water for controlled dips to a depth of 9.1 meters (30 feet) to avoid surface turbulence," according to the website.

We're excited to begin the 2023 Titanic Expedition! Read our first expedition blog to learn how you can follow our return to the wreck: https://t.co/fqFoqu0mns #Titanic

— OceanGate Expeditions (@OceanGateExped) May 11, 2023

We're excited to begin the 2023 Titanic Expedition! Read our first expedition blog to learn how you can follow our return to the wreck: https://t.co/fqFoqu0mns #Titanic

"After being submerged, the platform uses a streamlined damping system that is patented to stay connected to the surface but still provides a stable underwater platform where our manned submersibles take off and return after each dive," the site continued.

"At the end of each dive, the submersible landed on the submerged platform and the entire system was brought to the surface in about two minutes by filling the ballast tank with air."

OceanGate says Titan is the only manned submersible in the world that can carry five people as deep as 4,000 meters, allowing it to reach nearly 50 percent of the world's oceans. Unlike other submarines, Titan, the website says, uses a system that can analyze how pressure changes affect ships as they dive deeper, providing early warning detection for pilots with sufficient time to withstand decline and return to the surface safely.

Titan, which is a substitute Class Cyclops, uses Polar Prince, a former Canadian Coast Guard ice-breaker, as its support ship. However, Titan lost contact with Polar Prince 1 hour 45 minutes after diving on Sunday afternoon, according to the US Coast Guard, missing at the depths of the North Atlantic Ocean.

Titan began deep-sea travel related to her chipper in 2021. According to technology news site GeekWire, the ship was "rebuilt" after OceanGate determined through testing that the ship could not withstand the 4.000-meter dive pressure.

Separately, a submarine expert working for Oceangate - the company operating Titan - warned of a potential safety issue in 2018, according to US court documents, as quoted by the BBC.

David Lochridge moved from Scotland to Washington state to work at the company. In an interview with the BBC in 2017, he was very enthusiastic about this mission and said the mission was "determinated for the sea".

However, less than a year later he warned his superiors that a shortage in Titan's carbon hull may not have been detected without tighter testing, and urged the company to ask outside agencies to certify the ship.

RMS TITANIC EXPEDITION 20234am start this morning on the RMS Titanic Expedition Mission 5 with @oceangateexped. The sub had a successful launch and Hamish is currently diving. Stay tuned for further updates! @the_explorers_club @ActionAviation0 #titanic #titansub #discovery pic.twitter.com/qVGoYeHVwd

— Action Aviation (@actionaviation) June 18, 2023

RMS TITANIC EXPEDITION 20234am started this morning on the RMS divided Experience Mission 5 with @oceangateexped. The sub had a successful launch and Hamish is currently diving. Stay tuned for further updates! @the_explorers_club @ActionAvation0 #titanic #tintansub #discovery pic.twitter.com/qVGoYeHVwd

He said his verbal warning was ignored until he wrote a report and was called to meet with several officials - including OceanGate chief executive Stockton Rush, who was inside the missing Titan.

Oceangate responded by firing Lochridge. The company sued him for disclosing classified information, and the submarine expert demanded a return on the unfair dismissal. The lawsuit was later finalized. Through his lawyer, Lochridge declined to comment on this.

Court documents also state, Lochridge learned that Titan's front window manufacturer only certified up to a depth of 1,300 meters. Meanwhile, the ruins of theUSH ship are at a depth of 3,800 meters below sea level.

It is known that submarine diving to the ruins usually lasts about 10 to 11 hours.

Meanwhile, David Pogue, a CBS reporter, who boarded Titan last year, read out in a December report a statement he had to sign, stating that the submarine was "not approved or certified by any regulatory agency".

In an interview on Tuesday, Pogue said OceanGate had successfully explored the shipwreck about two dozen times and the company carried out careful security checks before each dive.

"They treat this object like a space launch," he said, as reported by Reuters.

Authorities have not confirmed the identities of those inside Titan. However, a number of reports mention the names of British billionaire Hamish Harding and Pakistani-born businessman Shahzada Dawood with his son Suleman, both British nationals.

French rover Paul-Henri Nargeolet and Stockton Rush, founder and CEO of OceanGate Expeditions, are also reported to have participated.