For those who are unaware: A couple billionaires, a pilot, and one of the billionaires’ son are currently stuck inside an extremely tiny sub a couple thousand meters under the sea (inside of the sub with the guys above).
They were supposed to dive down to the titanic, but lost connection about halfway down. They’ve been missing for the past 48 hours, and have 2 days until the oxygen in the sub runs out. Do you think they’ll make it?
Poor pilot :(
the pilot is/was the sub company’s CEO. He’d fired the whistleblower who’s pointed out the sub’s faults.
That’s some karma.
According to David Lochridge (their Director of Marine Operations who was fired and sued for whistleblowing), the passenger viewport was only certified for depths of up to 1,300 meters (4,265 feet), and OceanGate would not pay for the manufacturer to build a viewport certified for 4,000 meters, the depth at which the Titanic rested. .
I don’t understand…
So, the CEO knows this, decided against upgrading the viewpoint putting his giga wealthy customers at risk, who likely could sue him or just straight up ruin him, decided to go with it anywa, AND boarded the sub himself.
My brain doesn’t comprehend this logic.
Just imagine, these idiots spend 250k to sit in a iron tube controlled by a cheap offbrand playstation controller but won’t spend any of their money to improve the world. Only satisfying their own ego and greed. I can’t feel sorry for them, best I can do is hope that they imploded so they didn’t have to suffer too long.
I’m not really in the business of defending billionaires but I think at least one of them, the guy who brought his son, was involved with charities:
"He works with his family’s Dawood Foundation, as well as the SETI Institute - a California-based research organisation which searches for extra-terrestrial life.
“Shahzada is also a supporter of two charities founded by King Charles - the British Asian Trust and the Prince’s Trust International.”
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-65955554
He sounds (sounded) like a good person… I do find it interesting that the other billionaires don’t have any mentions of charitable works in articles I’ve read in them.
Every billionaire uses charities.
They’re a way to exert control over the money that would normally go to taxes, and be up to the government to spend.
It’s not inherently bad, but charity is not quite the saving grace of billionaires that many make it out to be.
It’s interesting how just 6 days ago, a boat with 750 people on board, including 100 kids, capsized near Greece, only 104 survived, and it’s less of an issue than those billionaires
The Greece tragedy is lacking the irony and hubris of this.
I mean, it’s a tourist submersible that was aiming to bring billionaires to view the Titanic wreckage and it likely got wrecked itself. And they named the submersible Titan.
The sub’s company OceanGate was dinged by a former employee for all sorts of safety issues and they fired and sued him. There are also lots of choice quotes from the CEO (who happens to be on the vessel) about moving fast and breaking things, and regulations stifling innovation. So there’s some possible karma involved.
I think it’s because the story about a missing submersible is unusual, and moreover, it’s about a rescue attempt. This makes it more interesting than many other, albeit more dreadful, news stories.
750 people drowning is also unusual, and there’s also been rescue attempts.
All these victims have loved ones, and i don’t wish death on anyone, but for the billionaires I find it quite hard to care much.
I still hope they’re saved, though; and if they are I very much hope the experience will have changed them.
That’s just not the same. Drowning is quick and if you don’t save them immediately they’re most likely dead. Slowly suffocating in a sub while the clock ticks and something can be done about it is a different story.
Learn to care.
You’re assuming they’re suffocating, when the smallest fault in the hull’s integrity would make the thing implode, killing them before they realized what was happening.
Like everyone, my ability to care has limits. You can’t worry and care about everything. I’ll give my fucks for those who didn’t grow rich exploiting others, thanks.
750 people drowning is also unusual
It’s terrible but not that unusual.
I think there’s a chance they succumbed to hypothermia long before they ran out of oxygen.
No, nor do I think they should be. There will be millions of wasted taxpayer dollars wasted on trying to recover rich people’s dead bodies. They signed a waiver and knew what they were getting into. There’s nothing to be learned from whatever happened, since the company was clearly negligent. Let them rest on the ocean floor beside the other rich assholes.
That’s a bit harsh. If there’s anything that works in modern society pretty reliably regardless of status, it’s search and rescue. Sunk subs can also be an environmental hazard.
There is no rescue in this instance, only an expensive recovery. And there are enough environmental hazards in the world at this point, that I don’t think a 5m sub on the sea floor is going to matter much. Most climbers are abandoned to their fate as they made the reckless decision to ascend, just as these people made the reckless decision to descend.
It’s still part of S&R. Lost swimmers, ships, small planes, or just people lost in the woods, there are always attempts for recovery long after any chance of survival is gone.
Yea climbers may be abandoned very high up on Everest, when there’s no safe way to bring them down. But subs, we do look for subs. Let’s not needlessly be dicks about it.
Let’s not needlessly be dicks about it.
You do you. I will be whatever I want about it however.
I agree woth this post. Wealth has nothing to do with this. And if they survive they can easily pay the bill.
Pretty hilarious that you think a billionaire would foot the bill if they are (or their families if they’re not) rescued.
It’s kinda poetic for them to go down next to the titanic, itself a story of complacency and excess/opulance.
I think if someone wants to dive to the wreckage of the Titanic again, they should ask the Russians for the Mir bathyscaphe, which definitely works reliably.
“currently stuck” is a euphemism - they are dead. They are gone.
No. Chances are high that that submarine just imploded in a millisecond and they just instantly died. Why else would it stop sending pings and completely dissappear otherwise?
I cant speak for myself but i think communication in general is a very well understood topic. If that fails you can just assume everyone is dead. I am not sure if the banging is real tho or if it was something else
There is so much misinformation around all of this (which isn’t helped by two of the largest social media networks being compromised) but:
If the “someone is knocking every 30 minutes and is near the surface” is true? Yeah, I think they will be rescued. That can be triangulated and they are near enough to the surface that a rescue is “low risk”. Whether they are in good shape after that rescue is anyone’s guess.
But in the likely event that this is wishful thinking? No. Time is running out (last twelve-ish hours if I can do timezones right?) and the likelihood is that any rescue attempt will be a severe risk to the team doing the rescue. That is not the kind of thing you can do as a last second race against time. We might find the sub but I genuinely do not believe we have the ability to mount a rescue in that amount of time. And the risk of something like “have a military sub lift them up” is not something anyone will sign off on.
I would also say that I don’t think people SHOULD be risking their lives at this point. We’re looking at a case of people who took an informed risk and understood that there was danger associated with the recreational activity they were undertaking. These people either had vast monetary resources and could have consulted the best experts in the world, or had significant prior experience and knowledge. While obviously withholding information interferes with informed consent, and that may or may not have played a role, I don’t think this is morally equivalent to rescuing someone from a burning building. There’s also simple probability - the odds of rescuing them alive and well aren’t good, and to put someone else’s life at risk for the off chance that they succeed would be unethical in my opinion.
Eh. I am very much not going to be losing too much sleep over a few billionaires dying from their own decisions.
But these were almost definitely not informed decisions. Even ignoring the current revelations that the company was even sketchier than one would have imagined: I am not sure how many “extreme” sports things you have done. The “So if you die it is totally your fault and not ours and even if we were criminally negligent, you will defend us” waiver is incredibly common. And without a proper understanding of the material science involved, it would come across as “as dangerous as sky diving”
I do very much blame the guy who apparently had dedicated his life to the Titanic. But the other rich folk are in the same category as someone living in a visibly dangerous/condemned building. If a rescue can be done with comparatively low risk: Go for it. If it is likely to kill the rescuers… maybe erase a few recordings.
I’ve read that the sub in question was only rated for 1300 ft, and they were taking it on dives of up to 4000 ft. Unless the sub surfaced as part of a safety protocol, there is an exceedingly high probability that the sub imploded and killed everybody.
The Titanic is at like 12,500 ft deep though
I think people are confusing meters and feet.
Titan’s forward viewport would only certify it to a depth of 1,300 meters due to OceanGate’s experimental design. The filing states that OceanGate refused to pay for the manufacturer to build a viewport that would meet the Titan’s intended depth of 4,000 meters. The Titanic lies about 3,800 meters below the surface.
The only outcome we can be sure of at this point is that the company responsible for this mess is going to have to answer a lot of questions.
And some massive lawsuits to handle.
I think there already is one. There was a guy working for that company who was fired for whistleblowing after the ceo ignored his safety concerns, and now that employee is going after the company for wrongful termination.
That ceo knew it was dangerous but still decided to drag 4 other people to a watery grave
I’m a bit confused that this is receiving so much attention. What’s so special about this case compared to all the other cases of people being lost at sea every year, besides them being rich?
Honestly, this case is somewhat extraordinary, in a deeply disturbing way.
First there was this amazing quote from the CEO who is missing on the craft right now
“You know, at some point, safety is just pure waste,” Rush told CBS’ David Pogue during an episode of his “Unsung Science” podcast. “I mean, if you just want to be safe, don’t get out of bed, don’t get in your car, don’t do anything. At some point, you’re going to take some risk, and it really is a risk-reward question.”
Second, aside from being made from questionable experimental materials, the sub was being controlled by an old, off brand xbox controller. There were numerous design and safety issues that were known at the time of departure. They kinda just did whatever in the F they wanted to. It’s a millionaire game of Fuck Around and Find Out and they’re not used to finding out.
Third, the damage waiver
The disclaimer, read out by CBS correspondent David Pogue, read: “This experimental submersible vessel has not been approved or certified by any regulatory body, and could result in physical injury, disability, emotional trauma, or death.”
A nervous-looking Pogue makes a face and says, “Where do I sign?” in the footage recorded when he went on the $250,000 (£195,000) trip to see the Titanic at the end of last year.
I get that it’s just some rich idiots (and one of their kids) crossing the river styx, but it’s not very often you see such amazing disregard for basic safety.
I don’t get why the Logitech controller is so focused on. I get that it’s probably not the right controller due to it’s age and wireless only nature but COTS parts are often more reliable than in-house ones. The lack of certification as you mentioned is a much larger issue.
I’m gonna go out on limb and say they’re no longer with us.
Yeah I don’t think you’re very far out on that limb. The likelihood of successful rescue is extremely low.
I can’t really believe anybody would spend $250K on a submarine expedition with the guy in charge of Ocean Gate, and his incredibly cavalier attitude toward safety.
Yea when I first heard about this I kinda just wrote them off tbh. The ocean is massive and moving, plus they’re in a glorified, malfunctioning, soup can.
I’ve never heard of the guy, but I can imagine based on that description jeez.
“It’s all apart of the experience” probably.
Maybe for a camping trip, but not this lol. Your already completely and literally out of your element.
A swedish submarine officer put it bluntly in an interview today, and i paraphrase: “most likely it developed a crack and instantly decompressed like a crushed soda can”
This is least painful/scary way for them to die. It’d be an instantaneous death.
High pressure under water does weird things
Money, money, money, mon…AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH
A bunch of billionaires bite the bullet on a dumb, rich tourist expedition? Lol why should anyone care?
They still have families and people that love and care about them.
So do the rest of us. Mostly.