POLAR PRINCE

General information

Course/Position

Latest news

Submersible Titan may have been damaged under tow

An expert has suggested that the OceanGate Titan submersible might have become damaged as it was dragged out to the dive site by the 'Polar Prince'. The submersible was made from carbon fibre, which has raised concerns among experts, some even commenting on the experimental nature of the craft before it suffer the fatal implosion. The shape of the sub has raised concerns as well, with some suggesting that the decision to opt for a pill-shaped sub rather than a more traditional sphere was based on the number of passengers that could be taken rather than safety. Now, another expert has suggested that the submersible could have suffered some damage in rough seas as it was dragged behind the mothership on a platform to the dive site. The Titan did not have a designated mothership, meaning that the chartered 'Polar Prince' took them to the dive site from Newfoundland. Since the sub was destroyed, many concerns have come to light, including past worries about building the experimental sub out of carbon fibre. Experts have also raised concerns about why the Titan was not classified and had never been inspected by an independent testing body. So far, OceanGate has refused to comment on the disaster, and its website has been removed and replaced with a message that states: "OceanGate Expeditions has suspended all exploration and commercial operations."

Submersible with five aboard lost in catastrophic implosion

The 'Titan' launched by the 'Polar Prine' has suffered a “catastrophic implosion,” killing everyone on board, US Coast Guard Rear Adm. John Mauger said on june 22. The tail cone and other debris from the submersible were found by a ROV about 1,600 feet from the bow of the 'Titanic' in a water depth of about 13,000 feet- The families were immediately notified. OceanGate Expeditions CEO Stockton Rush, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood, Hamish Harding, and Paul-Henri Nargeolet, have died immediately. The news ends a saga that began on June 18 when the submersible began its descent to explore the wreckage of the RMS 'Titanic'. The cramped vessel lost contact with its mother ship about 1 hour and 45 minutes into its dive and did not surface as expected. The last communication between the vessel and its mother ship came in at 11:47 a.m. With no GPS underwater, the submersible is only guided by text messages from the surface ship. The authorities will begin to demobilize the medical personnel and nine vessels involved in the search over the course of the next 24 hours, but remote operations will continue on the sea floor for an undetermined amount of time. The focus on the vessel has renewed criticisms of OceanGate’s approach to safety from employees and other industry leaders. The 23,000-pound deep-sea vessel was made of an experimental combination of carbon fiber and titanium and relied on decidedly low-tech parts, such as a video game controller. The submersible had an estimated 96 hours of life support. Issues with computer control were among the reasons Discovery Channel’s “Expedition Unknown” host Josh Gates and his team decided after a 2021 test dive of 'Titan' against filming a segment on the vessel as it became clear to us at that time that there was a lot that needed to be worked out with the sub. It had issues with thrusters and issues with computer control a.o. Report with photos: https://edition.cnn.com/2023/06/22/us/submersible-titanic-oceangate-search-thursday/index.html

Oxygen may be running out

While the rescue workers continued the hunt for the 'Titan', the oxygen supply on board was expected to run out on June 22 at 12.08 .p.m UK time. The OceanGate Expeditions vessel had a 96-hour oxygen supply in case of emergencies. The USCG has been leading an international rescue effort which was stepped up after underwater noises were heard on June 20 and again on June 21, although experts have been unable to determine the cause of the sound which could just be natural sounds The area of the search has been expanded, with the surface search now about 10,000 square miles, and the sub-surface search about 2.5 miles deep. The Coastguard had five surface vessels searching for the 'Titan' on June 21 and they expected there to be 10 a.m. on June 22. The intent will be to continue to search in those areas where the noises were detected, and if they're continuing to be detected, and then put additional ROVs down on the last known position where the search was originally taking place. It was still a search and rescue mission. The 'Titan' was believed to be about 900 miles east and 400 miles south of Newfoundland. It is not known how deep the vessel is, with a water depth of around 3,800 meters. Questions have been raised about the vessel after it emerged earlier in the week that a former employee of OceanGate questioned "safety and quality control issues regarding the Titan to OceanGate executive management". David Lochridge, OceanGate's former director of marine operations, claimed in an August 2018 court document that he was wrongfully fired after flagging worries about the company's alleged "refusal to conduct critical, non-destructive testing of the experimental design". Report with photos:https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/chilling-selfie-footage-shows-moment-30294029