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OceanGate Expeditions

OceanGate Expeditions: Elon Musk, Macklemore and video game controllers

The whereabouts of the vessel remain unknown.

THE COMPANY BEHIND the missing submersible near the wreck of the Titanic has come under scrutiny in the wake of the disappearance.

According to OceanGate Expeditions, the submersible has 96 hours of oxygen. The submersible first set off on Sunday at around 8pm local time, which suggests that the vessel now has less than two days of “life support” left.

Rescue crews from the US and Canadian coastguard embarked on surface-level searches yesterday and through the night in an attempt to locate the vanished vessel, which lost contact with the rest of the world less than two hours into its journey.

In the wake of the disappearance, attention has turned to OceanGate and the company’s CEO, Stockton Rush, who is aboard the missing sub.

Rush is a former pilot, having qualified in 1981, and holds a BSE in Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University. He has since served on the boards of multiple exploration tech firms.

His biography notes that he “personally built a Glasair III experimental aircraft, which he still owns and flies”. The missing vessel uses sonar made by Teledyne, a company which Rush cofounded. 

On the journey’s original validation dive, became the second person in history, along with film director James Cameron, to complete a solo dive to this depth.

Also aboard the vessel are former French navy commander Paul-Henry Nargeolet, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, and Hamish Harding, a British businessman and pilot, who was aboard the Blue Origin NS-21 space flight (the fifth manned suborbital space launched by Jeff Bezos’ space travel company).

As the search for the sub continues, much of the available evidence paints an eyebrow-raising picture of the vehicle’s safety specifications.

In a report by CBS published late last year, Rush is captured showing off that the navigation of the entire submersible is controlled by what looks like an early-generation video game controller. Elsewhere, Rush points to other parts of the vessel, saying he bought them at “Camping World”. 

In the same video, CBS science reporter David Pogue reads from a waiver that states the vessel, named Titan, is an “experimental submersible vessel that has not been approved by any regulatory body and could result in physical injury, disability, emotional trauma or death”.

Pogue, who signed that waiver in order to make the journey to the wreck of the Titanic last year, has since said on Twitter: “There are hydraulic, electric, and mechanical ways to rise. For example, they can drop sand bags. They can dump heavy lead construction pipes. They can jettison the legs. They can use the propellers. They can inflate an air bladder.

“The question is why haven’t they?”

CBS Sunday Morning / YouTube

16 June marked the vessel’s fifth journey to survey the wreck of the Titanic, having completed two journeys in 2021 and 2022, and two more earlier this month. 13 further descents had been planned, with a spot on the dive costing up to $250,000 per person.

The company’s most recent YouTube video shows rapper Macklemore going 400m below sea level in an OceanGate sub to look at sixgill sharks. The depth capability of the Titanic submersible is 4,000m.

The vessel relies on Starlink, the satellite internet service provided by Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Earlier this month OceanGate wrote on Twitter: “Despite being in the middle of the North Atlantic, we have the internet connection we need to make our Titanic dive operations a success”. Unfortunately, rescue teams have been unable to establish communications with the vessel at any point.

Pogue has also confirmed that the submersible does not have a locator beacon, which could function as a black box and allow rescue teams to pinpoint where the vessel might be. Due to this, and the remote location and potential depth of the vessel, rescue operations face an uphill battle.

This difficulty is underscored by the fact that the Titan is the only five-person sub in the world capable of reaching the Titanic wreck. Historically, there were Russian-made submersibles which traversed the wreckage, but between 2005 and 2019, there had been no human visits to the Titanic. There are certainly very few, if any, other companies who offer such a tour.

At the time of writing, there is no suggestion as to what may have caused the disappearance. 

OceanGate claims that the sub’s “proprietary Real Time Hull Health Monitoring (RTM) systems provides an unparalleled safety feature that assesses the integrity of the hull throughout every dive”.

“This onboard health analysis monitoring system provides early warning detection for the pilot with enough time to arrest the descent and safely return to surface.”

As of this afternoon, however, the whereabouts of the vessel remain unknown.

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    Mute Damocles
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    Jun 9th 2017, 6:41 AM

    Srsly? Wtaf?

    Dutch Elections, Wilders didn’t get a majority but the Dutch system makes majorities massively unlikely. He did make a massive gain though.

    French Elections, two candidates to the second round gaining more than 50% of votes were on European reform tickets.

    This is not an endorsement of Europe and a call for further integration.

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    Mute Rowe
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    Jun 9th 2017, 7:23 AM

    @Damocles:

    Also the europhiles are conveniently forgetting Poland, Hungary, Czech Rep, Slovakia, who are not cow towing the EU line, thankfully

    195
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    Mute technoviking
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    Jun 9th 2017, 9:25 AM

    @Rowe: They’re also conveniently forgetting that the only countries to ever vote on European Constitution/Lisbon Treaty were France, Netherlands and Ireland. All rejected it but had it forced on them anyway.

    This is and never was an endorsement of European integration. Give people a vote tomorrow and they would more than likely leave.

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    Mute John R
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    Jun 9th 2017, 2:38 PM

    @technoviking: “Give people a vote tomorrow and they would more than likely leave”. Totally fanciful and utter nonsense. Most people support the EU across the Union. Where the soft support lies is in the level of integration they aspire to. So while I believe that there is strong support for the EU I don’t believe that necessarily translates into More Europe.

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    Mute John Dillon
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    Jun 9th 2017, 7:35 AM

    This European Political analyst is just a mouthpiece for Macron and Merkel.Were they telling us Turkey was joining the EU a few short years ago.

    151
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    Mute Bairéid Rísteard
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    Jun 9th 2017, 7:55 AM

    @John Dillon: we live in strange times.. Truth is lies, bad is good, backward is forward.

    68
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    Mute Scundered
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    Jun 9th 2017, 7:49 AM

    Certainly not a vote for Europe.

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    Mute Bennythekid
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    Jun 9th 2017, 7:06 AM

    Europe has been good for Ireland and the young people who came out to vote in Britain yesterday were voting against Brexit.

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    Mute Titus Groan
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    Jun 9th 2017, 7:26 AM

    @Bennythekid: No, it was many things actually. Brexit is not our be all and end all.

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    Mute Revolting Peasant
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    Jun 9th 2017, 7:31 AM

    @Bennythekid: I don’t think anyone know what the Brits voted for yesterday, but life must be fairly desperate to see that result.
    Now sit back and watch all sorts claim it was a vote for this or that.

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    Mute Bennythekid
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    Jun 9th 2017, 7:42 AM

    @Revolting Peasant: if those young voters had come out to vote on the Brexit referendum Britain would still be in the E U.

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    Mute Titus Groan
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    Jun 9th 2017, 7:43 AM

    @Bennythekid: The young did vote in high numbers. Yours is a common misconception. I can get the actual statistics, if you like.

    32
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    Mute Tony Skillington
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    Jun 9th 2017, 8:09 AM

    @Bennythekid: 60 odd billion of bank debt converted to souveign debt because Trichet wouldn’t allow bond holders to be burnt? Yeah…EU’s a dear old aunty to this country

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    Mute Bennythekid
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    Jun 9th 2017, 8:20 AM

    @Titus Groan: u can get all the statistics u like I have children living in the U K-they regret not voting in the referendum but they voted yesterday along with their friends in high numbers.It was an anti Brexit vote.

    11
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    Mute Neal Ireland Hello.
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    Jun 9th 2017, 8:26 AM

    @Titus Groan: Most important election in decades and one in four young people still couldn’t be bothered.

    15
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    Mute Dave Kelly
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    Jun 9th 2017, 9:00 AM

    @Bennythekid: Eh Corbyn wasn’t exactly 100% against leaving the EU either, maybe check the facts

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    Mute Bennythekid
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    Jun 9th 2017, 9:28 AM

    @Dave Kelly: maybe he wishes they had stayed in now -Britains economy heading south sterling plunging-What a mess.

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    Mute Paul Fahey
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    Jun 9th 2017, 10:32 AM

    @Bennythekid: actually Britains economy is doing very well, but sterling has fallen and been fluctuating a lot. Perhaps the fact you have children living there should tell you the economy is doing well. Again, facts and stats can be provided, but feel free to provide your own showing a decline in growth, a recession as such.

    15
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    Mute Dáithí Ó Raghallaigh
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    Jun 9th 2017, 7:10 AM

    “endorsing more Europe, not less”, don’t think so, more a case of seeing Trump in power and seeing there is no point in voting the alternative, their all the same when they get their hands on power

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    Mute Rory Toner
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    Jun 9th 2017, 6:43 AM

    Shove your NWO. Frau Merle and your Lisbon agreements.

    183
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    Mute Bairéid Rísteard
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    Jun 9th 2017, 7:21 AM

    What unabashed propaganda!

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    Mute TheHeathen
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    Jun 9th 2017, 8:32 AM

    @Bairéid Rísteard: ‘European Political Analyst’ – He used to be on the Journal spouting young FG horse excrement. Now he’s finished his college course he has progressed to ‘analyst’.

    106
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    Mute Bairéid Rísteard
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    Jun 9th 2017, 8:44 AM

    @TheHeathen: A cowardly ‘yes man’ in other words

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    Mute Celtic Spirit
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    Jun 9th 2017, 12:55 PM

    @TheHeathen: I remember that. Then said he was disillusioned with politics. He sent me friend request on FB a few years ago. For whatever reason, I don’t know.

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    Mute Steven C. Schulz
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    Jun 9th 2017, 7:40 AM

    So, in summary: more Europe, except where it conflicts with out interest. Sounds like the same kind of picking and choosing that has resulted in the condemnation and withdrawal of Britain. Since those goals are mutually exclusive, this is either deliberately obtuse, or deliberately hypocritical.

    Seriously…

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    Mute Mise Éire
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    Jun 9th 2017, 11:38 AM

    Why did the article writer not declare his undying love of Fine Gael as has always been the case? It is necessary for journal.ie readers to know this when reading the article.

    32
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    Mute Ian Oh
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    Jun 9th 2017, 12:15 PM

    This article is blatant EU propaganda. If the EU wants different countries citizens appreciation and respect, it also should also show the same for its members. Also admit its faults like the continuously rising debt burden of every member state to the ECB. If they genuinely took steps to address, rectify and remedy the problems, then they might be taken seriously by the skeptics. Rail-roading over the protestations of the afflicted underdogs and window dressing that everything is great is not the way forward, especially when the EU’s idea of democracy is central control of power of all states by an unaccountable unelected elite collection of corrupt officials. And FG are no protector of Irish sovereignty or Irish interests either, just panderers to the elite untouchables. Not exactly a reassuring position for us unfortunately.

    33
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    Mute Patrick J. O'Rourke
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    Jun 9th 2017, 3:51 PM

    The more Europe they push the more people will want less Europe. Why did we have to have political Union shoved down our throats when we could have just had the common market. Now they use that common market as a tool to blackmail or threaten countries. The commission and Eurocrats are the new Taleban.

    22
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    Mute Shane Moynihan
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    Jun 9th 2017, 10:28 AM

    Macron is married to an old wan and they most probably had sexual relations with each other when he was underage. Fair creepy….

    22
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    Mute Tariq Ibn Ziyad
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    Jun 9th 2017, 11:12 AM

    @Shane Moynihan: Creepy that you’re interested in that kind of thing maybe!

    6
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    Mute Shane Moynihan
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    Jun 9th 2017, 7:36 PM

    @Tariq Ibn Ziyad: Lol no Tariz it’s common knowledge my friend xx

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    Mute Shane Moynihan
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    Jun 9th 2017, 11:18 AM

    Keep them OUT

    10
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    Mute Anthony Gallagher
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    Jun 9th 2017, 12:49 PM

    When we live in a state that has done so much to undermine our own values ,why should we condemn the noble ideals of a europe that has helped turn one of europes poorest states into one of its richest .people have short memories ,yes europe is a successful viable political and economic entity ,the whingers forget the tragic past ,they forget the hard work that has been done and they castigate it whale they turn a blind eye to the deplorable shortcomings of our own legislature .ireland is a half way house but further integration is inevitable .eastern europe was a mess until the west gave it opportunity ,membership and political democracy ,lets not forget what great things it has achieved and lets welcome positive debate .Trump is a fraud ,he stands for nothing but division .

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    Mute Patricia Cooney
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    Jun 15th 2017, 11:41 PM

    It has pushed Islam.all around Europe.that all it has done.

    1
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