Irish To Last Expedition Haunting End Examiner Titan’s View:

Irish Examiner view: Haunting end to Titan’s last expedition — Due A To The Submersible Vessel Implosion Of Lives Catastrophic Were Five Lost

Sat, 24 Jun, 2023 - 02:00

It is unlikely there are many of us who would choose to take their pleasure by climbing into a cramped mini-submarine and diving into the inhospitable and unforgiving depths of the Atlantic Ocean. But that is just the way that some people, the risk-takers of this world, roll when they seek adventure.

After several palpitating days of search we now know the five members of the Titan submersible, including a father and his 19-year-old son who reluctantly joined the expedition, it is reported, “because it was Father’s Day” lost their lives early in the voyage due to a catastrophic implosion of the vessel.

Reports attributed to the US navy say experts conducted an analysis of acoustic data and “detected an anomaly” consistent with the area of operations when communications were lost on Sunday.

James Cameron, director of the movie Titanic, who is an experienced submariner and has visited the wreckage 13,000ft down on the ocean floor 33 times, said he had been worried by the submersible’s composite carbon fibre and titanium hull design and wished that he had spoken up earlier.

He commented also on the “similarity” between the tragedy of the Titan and the sinking of the Titanic in 1912 after its departure from Queenstown, now Cobh.

Both involved a series of unheeded warnings he told ABC. Both now lie within 1,600ft of each other on the sea bed.

In his memorable poem, The Convergence of the Twain, written shortly after the Titanic disaster, Thomas Hardy compares the hubris of mankind with the power of nature.

Five more lost lives 600km off the coast of Newfoundland are a sad reminder of taking on the untamed forces of the world.

Time to consider whether Titanic trips should end, society president says