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?

  • quantum_mechanic@lemmy.world
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    2 years ago

    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.

    • WhoRoger@lemmy.world
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      2 years ago

      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.

      • quantum_mechanic@lemmy.world
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        2 years ago

        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.

        • WhoRoger@lemmy.world
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          2 years ago

          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.

      • a2800276@lemmy.world
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        2 years ago

        Sunk subs can also be an environmental hazard.

        Just out of curiosity… how do you figure that a tiny sunken submersible would become a hazard, much less an environmental one?

        • WhoRoger@lemmy.world
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          2 years ago

          Probably not a big deal at that depth, I mentioned it as only a general addendum. But it probably has a battery, and those tend to be removed from sunken ships and subs together with other risky chemicals if possible.

          I remember the case of a ship sinking with a shipment of new cars, and they recovered every one of those cars because they didn’t want even one polluting the environment.

          Regardless they’ll want to search for it for the human(e) reasons primarily anyway.

        • TheMauveAvenger@lemmy.world
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          2 years ago

          Pretty hilarious that you think a billionaire would foot the bill if they are (or their families if they’re not) rescued.

    • SporkBomber@kbin.social
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      2 years ago

      At least this method of winning the darwin award is going full circle.

      ‘Bringing an outside entity up to speed on every innovation before it is put into real-world testing is anathema to rapid innovation.’

      https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12215003/OceanGate-REFUSED-independent-inspection-missing-sub-fired-worker-raised-safety-concerns.html

      He hired a guy specifically to work on the safety of the sub and fired him when he raised too many concerns like the viewport not being rated for that depth.

      'Lochridge learned that the viewport manufacturer would only certify to a depth of 1,300 meters due to the experimental design of the viewport supplied by OceanGate, which was out of the Pressure Vessels for Human Occupancy (‘PVHO’) standards.

      'OceanGate refused to pay for the manufacturer to build a viewport that would meet the required depth of 4,000 meters.

      • quantum_mechanic@lemmy.world
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        2 years ago

        Exactly, there’s enough evidence that they’re just willfully negligent. Fuck them. The victims should have done even 5 mins of research on the company before getting in the sub.

    • Endorkend@kbin.social
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      2 years ago

      Not only that, one look at the thing they chose to go down into the water in was enough for me to wonder what kind of hallucinogens they must’ve been on to accept that risk.

      • xuxebiko@kbin.social
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        2 years ago

        According to David Lochridge (their Director of Marine Operations who was fired and sued), the passenger viewport of the original sub (buit in 2018) 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.

        Whether that defect was corrected in this version of the sub (built 2020-21) is anyone’s guess. Meanwhile, a German entrepreneur who took a trip in this sub in 2021 reported several problems with the electrics and one dive was aborted at 1600ft. So whether these new problems were addressed (by someone who wanted to cheap out on a window) is also unknown.

      • Ben@lemmy.world
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        2 years ago

        4km down - I get the willies if I see more than 20 metres of water underneath me and I can’t see the bottom.

      • AFaithfulNihilist@lemmy.world
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        2 years ago

        Should we send rescue missions up Everest to ensure the families of rich thrill seekers get to bury their loved ones, or should we maybe put those resources into saving real, living people?

        It’s unfortunate that their risky joy ride went south, but it would be an actual tragedy if we used hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of dollars of public money to maybe find a few bodies. That money should be used more efficiently helping more people who actually need it.

      • alpacapone@lemmy.world
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        2 years ago

        they had to sign a waiver that mentions the possibility of death 3 times on the first page to dive in a vehicle that has never been safety certified and that was criticized years ago by almost 40 experts in a letter to the CEO. who is more insane? this safety mission will cost a fortune regardless of the outcome.