At 3 p.m. US time on June 22, the U.S. Coast Guard held a press conference to confirm:
The deep-sea submersible "Titan", which lost contact while investigating the wreckage of the Titanic, suffered a catastrophic implosion.
All five passengers were killed.
This means that they died long before the rescue began, perhaps even the moment they disappeared.
Nothing miraculous happened.
At 7 a.m. US time on June 22 (7 p.m. Beijing time on the 22nd), oxygen in the submersible was exhausted (poke here for review), but the search continued.
ROV remotely operated vehicles were deployed into the sea to scan the seabed at walking speed.
(A ROV is a remotely operated underwater machine that is remotely operated by an operator on the surface, equipped with a camera that can see the seabed, and is often used to service submarine cables, collect samples, etc.) ）
At 12 noon, the U.S. Coast Guard suddenly announced a bombshell message:
They found a "debris field" near the wreck of the Titanic!
The news immediately caused heated discussions, although it is normal for there to be debris near the Titanic, since they announced this information so seriously, many people speculated that this meant -
This is not a fragment of the wreck of the Titanic, but a fragment of the Titan.
Sure enough, more than two hours later, OceanGate suddenly issued a statement acknowledging that all passengers had died.
"We now believe that five people in the submersible have unfortunately died."
At 3 p.m., the U.S. Coast Guard held a press conference to confirm that they had recovered the fragments of the Titan:
Search and rescue personnel found five major fragments of the Titanic submersible, including its rear cover and landing gear, on the seabed about 488 meters from the bow of the Titanic.
From the debris, experts determined that the submersible had undergone a "catastrophic implosion."
They revealed several pieces of information at once:
- There is no indication that the Titan submersible collided with the wreckage of the Titanic.
- The "bang" detected by search and rescue personnel before had nothing to do with the Titan submersible.
- They could not confirm whether the bodies of the victims could be found.
Experts say there is little hope of recovering the remains: "It's an unimaginably harsh environment..."
In fact, when the submersible was just lost, some experts mentioned the possibility of implosion of the submersible.
Implosion, in simple terms, is when the pressure on the outside crushes the submersible.
When a submersible dives to a depth of several kilometers, the ocean pressure around it becomes very high, hundreds of times higher than on the ground.
All submersibles are designed to handle this pressure, but as mentioned in the previous article, the Titan submersible is poorly equipped, has hidden risks, and has not passed safety certification.
"If the submersible had a structural failure, it was subjected to incredibly high pressures at the time of the incident."
At present, the cause of the implosion of the submersible has not yet been identified.
But what we do know is that under such pressure, once there is a little crack in the submersible, the sea water will instantly tear the outer shell of the submersible under high pressure, tearing and crushing everything inside, including the five passengers.
According to oceanographer Bob Ballard, the implosion of the submersible would produce enormous amounts of energy.
This energy is amazingly destructive and will tear everything to shreds.
It is worth mentioning that the implosion generates a huge shock wave, which was not detected by the sonar laid out after the rescue team arrived.
Instead, U.S. defense officials revealed that shortly after the Titan submersible disappeared, their naval acoustic detection system heard the sound of implosion near the wreckage of the Titanic.
This means that long before the rescue team arrived, the submersible had imploded, and the passengers were killed immediately.
- rather than days of suffering, slowly suffocating in the cold, hunger and darkness, as people think.
Former U.S. Navy physician Dale Moore said:
"While this is still a tragedy, being trapped in a submersible is even more terrifying for Titan passengers.
You can imagine what that would look like... It was cold and the oxygen was running out.
Death (in the case of implosion) is an instantaneous process, one millisecond alive and the next millisecond immediately dead.
They passed away before they realized the submersible had imploded.
If we can't get them back, that's the best. ”
Now, the families of the five passengers on board, with the exception of the OceanGate CEO's family have issued no statement, and the families of the remaining four have issued condolences, some of whom are in a fairly stable mood.
The family of British billionaire Harmish Harding, 58, wrote in his condolences:
"He was a passionate explorer who spent his life fighting for his family, his career, and his next adventure.
If there's anything that gives us any relief from this tragedy, it's that at least he died while doing what he loved. ”
The daughter of legendary French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77, also said in an interview:
For him, the ocean is like his second home. His favorite thing to do is fly a submersible close to the Titanic, which is what he really loves...
It was a relief for us to know that he was sleeping in a place that made him incredibly happy. ”
Nargeolet, an authority on Titanic research, was a colleague and student of many of the experts involved in the rescue, including a deep-sea diving expert named Larry Daly:
"The news is heartbreaking, but he completed the journey of his life in the exploration of the Titanic... This is symbolic in a sense.
We as human beings always pursue continuous exploration, which is the brilliance of human nature. ”
However, not all the relatives of the victims were able to accept this tragic news.
On board the Titan submersible, there is also a father and son.
Entrepreneur father Shahzada Dawood, 48, with son Suleman, a 19-year-old college student.
Grief-stricken by their passing, her father's sister Azmeh revealed:
"Sulemon is a kind-hearted child. He had actually been scared of the trip and was reluctant to board the Titan.
But he knew that his father had always been very interested in the Titanic, and it was Father's Day, and he just wanted to make his father happy..."
In this way, this child who just entered college, in order to accompany his father, embarked on a journey of death...
The miracle did not happen in the end - this ending may not be unexpected, but it is still embarrassing.
"Titanic" director and deep-sea diving expert, James Cameron, expressed shock:
"This accident bears a striking resemblance to the sinking of the Titanic.
Many in the deep-sea diving community have expressed concern about the Titan, and some leading figures have written to their company that what they are doing is too risky — he needs to be certified before he can carry passengers.
The same was true of the Titanic's wreck, whose captain had been warned several times that there were icebergs ahead, but still rushed at full speed in the dark of night, and many people died.
In the same place, the same danger was warned, but tragedy still happened..."
Once again, the tragedy is unfolding, and it is heartbreaking.
Deep sea exploration is not child's play, nor should it be a tool for seeking romantic thrills...
In the face of the forces of nature, human beings must remain in awe, but also respect science and treat it with prudence. Any contempt can cost lives.
May they rest in peace.