2023 Titan submersible incident
I felt seeing this as a wikopedia writing, it seemed the most subdued to me. Cuz I cannot know more about this than the slim amount I do know. We don't need extra pain. And I lift up their families to You, Lord God. Grant them the peace that surpasseth understanding. I just don't wanna comprehend this fully with errors and design had changed. I just care that five people had an awful death. The kid was afraid to go. But he did it for fathers day. It all just breaks my heart too much. Others will hold them liable for the many safety violations. I pray they all made Heaven.
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A request that this article title be changed to 2023 Titan submersible disappearance is under discussion. Please do not move this article until the discussion is closed.
2023 Titan submersible incident
Date 18 June 2023
Location North Atlantic Ocean, near the wreck of the Titanic
Coordinates 41°43′32″N 49°56′49″W
Cause Failure of the pressure hull
Participants OceanGate
Outcome Submersible destroyed by implosion[1]
Deaths 5 (see fatalities)
MapWikimedia | © OpenStreetMap
MV Polar Prince departed St. John's, Newfoundland (1) on 16 June, and arrived at the dive site (2) on 17 June, where the Titan was deployed and began its descent the day after.
On 18 June 2023, Titan, a submersible operated by OceanGate, disappeared in international waters in the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately 400 nautical miles (740 km) off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.[2][3] The submersible, carrying five people, was part of a tourist expedition to observe the wreck of the Titanic. Communication with Titan was lost 1 hour and 45 minutes into its dive to the wreck site. Authorities were alerted when it failed to resurface at the scheduled time later that day.[4][5]
After a search lasting nearly 80 hours, a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) discovered a debris field containing parts of the Titan, approximately 1,600 feet (about 500 metres) from the bow of the Titanic. The findings were based on the U.S. Navy's declassified sonar detection of an implosion in the area on the day of the voyage, which suggested that the pressure vessel had imploded while Titan was descending, resulting in the instant death of all five occupants.[6][7][8]
Concerns had been raised about the safety of the vessel. OceanGate executives did not seek certification for the Titan, arguing that excessive safety protocols hindered innovation.[9] The search and rescue operation was conducted by an international team led by the United States Coast Guard, United States Navy, and Canadian Coast Guard.[10] Support was provided by aircraft from the Royal Canadian Air Force and United States Air National Guard, a Royal Canadian Navy ship, as well as several commercial and research vessels and ROVs.[11][12][13]
Background
OceanGate
Main article: OceanGate
OceanGate is a private company founded by Stockton Rush and Guillermo Söhnlein in 2009. Since 2010, it has leased and transported paying customers in commercial submersibles off the coast of California, in the Gulf of Mexico, and in the Atlantic Ocean.[14] The company is based in Everett, Washington, U.S.[15]
Rush realized that visiting shipwreck sites was a way to get media attention, and in 2016 the company transported customers to a shipwreck for the first time, utilizing their submersible Cyclops 1 to visit the Andrea Doria wreck site. In 2019, Rush told Smithsonian magazine "There's only one wreck that everyone knows [...] If you ask people to name something underwater, it's going to be sharks, whales, Titanic."[14]
Titanic
Main article: Wreck of the Titanic
The Titanic was a British ocean liner that sank in the North Atlantic on 15 April 1912, after colliding with an iceberg. More than 1,500 died, making it the deadliest sinking of a single ship up to that time.[16][17] In 1985, the wreckage was discovered on the ocean floor around 400 nautical miles (740 km; 460 mi) from the coast of Newfoundland.[18] The wreck lies at a depth of about 3,810 metres (12,500 feet; 2,080 fathoms).[19]
Titan submersible
Main article: OceanGate § Titan
OceanGate's Cyclops 1, the predecessor of the Titan. The Titan had a 380 mm (15 inch) window.
Titan was a five-person submersible vessel operated by OceanGate Inc The 6.7-metre-long (22 ft), 10,432 kg (23,000 lb) vessel was constructed from carbon fibre and titanium.[20] The entire pressure vessel consisted of two titanium hemispheres, two matching titanium interface rings, connected by the 142 cm (56 in) internal diameter, 2.4-metre-long (7.9 ft) carbon fibre-wound cylinder.[21] One of the titanium hemispherical end caps was fitted with a 380 mm-diameter (15 in) acrylic window.[22] In 2020, Rush stated that the hull had been downgraded to a depth rating of 3,000 m (9,800 ft) after demonstrating signs of cyclic fatigue. In 2020 and 2021, the hull was repaired or rebuilt.[23]
A picture of Logitech F710, the game controller used aboard the Titan
A Logitech F710 wireless game controller. A modified version was used to steer the Titan.
Titan could move at up to 3 knots (5.6 km/h; 3.5 mph) using four electric thrusters, arrayed two horizontal and two vertical.[24] Its steering controls consisted of a Logitech F710 wireless game controller with modified analogue sticks. The use of off-the-shelf game controllers is not particularly unusual among vehicles such as submarines that need more than just a steering wheel to control.[25][26][27]
OceanGate claimed on its website as of 2023 that Titan was "designed and engineered by OceanGate Inc. in collaboration [with] experts from NASA, Boeing, and the University of Washington" (UW). A 1⁄3-scale model of the Cyclops 2 pressure vessel was built and tested at the Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) at UW; the model was able to sustain a pressure of 4,285 psi (29.54 MPa; 291.6 atm), corresponding to a depth of approximately 3,000 m (9,800 ft).[28] After the disappearance of the Titan in 2023, UW claimed the APL had no involvement in "design, engineering, or testing of the Titan submersible". A Boeing spokesperson also claimed Boeing "was not a partner on the Titan and did not design or build it". A NASA spokesperson said that NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center had a Space Act Agreement with OceanGate, but "did not conduct testing and manufacturing via its workforce or facilities".[29]
According to OceanGate, the vessel contained monitoring systems to continuously monitor the strength of the hull.[20] The vessel had life support for five crew members for 96 hours.[20] There was no on-board navigation system; the support ship, which monitored the position of Titan relative to its target, sent text messages to Titan providing distances and directions.[30]
According to OceanGate, the Titan had seven backup systems intended to return the vessel to surface in case of emergency, including ballasts that could be dropped, a balloon, and thrusters. Some of the backup systems were designed to work even if all aboard the submersible were unconscious; there were sandbags held by hooks that dissolved after a certain number of hours in the water to release the sandbags, ideally letting the vessel float to the surface.[2][31] An OceanGate investor explained that if the vessel did not automatically ascend after the elapsed time, those inside the vessel could help release the ballast either by tilting the ship back and forth to dislodge it or by utilizing a pneumatic pump to loosen the weights.[32]
Expeditions to the Titanic
The Titan made its first dive to the Titanic in July 2021.[33] In total, OceanGate undertook six dives to Titanic in 2021 and seven in 2022.[34]
Each dive typically had a pilot, a guide and three paying passengers on board.[4] Once inside the submersible, the hatch would be bolted shut and could only be reopened from the outside.[35] The descent from the surface to the Titanic typically took two hours,[36] with the full dive taking approximately eight hours.[4] Throughout the journey, the submersible was expected to emit a safety ping every 15 minutes to be monitored by the above-water crew.[18] The vessel and surface crew were also able to communicate via short text messages.[37]
Customers who travelled to the Titanic with OceanGate, referred to as "mission specialists" by the company,[38] paid US$250,000 each for the eight-day expedition.[4][39][40]
OceanGate intended to conduct multiple expeditions to the Titanic in 2023, but because of poor weather in Newfoundland, the company had only launched a single expedition in 2023.[4][36]
Safety and concerns
Safety
Because the Titan operated in international waters and did not carry passengers from a port, it was not subject to safety regulations. The vessel was not certified as seaworthy by any regulatory agency or third-party organization.[41] Reporter David Pogue, who completed the expedition in 2022 as part of a CBS News Sunday Morning feature,[42] stated that all passengers who enter the Titan sign a waiver confirming their knowledge that it is an "experimental" vessel "that has not been approved or certified by any regulatory body, and could result in physical injury, disability, emotional trauma or death".[43] Television producer Mike Reiss, who also completed the expedition, noted the waiver "mention[s] death three times on page one".[44] A 2019 article published in Smithsonian magazine referred to Rush as a "daredevil inventor".[14] In the article, Rush is described as having said the U.S. Passenger Vessel Safety Act of 1993 "needlessly prioritized passenger safety over commercial innovation".[14][45] In a 2022 interview, Rush told CBS News, "At some point, safety just is pure waste. I mean, if you just want to be safe, don't get out of bed. Don't get in your car. Don't do anything."[46] Speaking in a 2021 interview, Rush further observed, "I've broken some rules to make [the Titan]. I think I've broken them with logic and good engineering behind me. The carbon fiber and titanium, there's a rule you don't do that. Well, I did."[47]
OceanGate claimed that Titan was the only manned submersible that used RTM, "an integrated real-time health monitoring system". The proprietary system, patented by Rush, employed acoustic sensors and strain gauges at the pressure boundary to analyze the effects of increasing pressure as the watercraft ventured deeper into the ocean and to monitor the hull's integrity in real time. This supposedly would function to give early warning of problems and allow enough time to abort the descent and return to the surface.[48][49]
Prior concerns
In 2018, OceanGate's director of marine operations, David Lochridge, composed a report documenting safety concerns he had about the Titan. In court documents, Lochridge said that he had urged the company to have the Titan assessed and certified by an agency, but OceanGate had declined to do so, citing an unwillingness to pay.[50] He also said that the transparent viewport on its forward end was only certified to reach a depth of 1,300 m (4,300 ft), only a third of the depth required to reach the Titanic.[51] Lochridge was also concerned that OceanGate would not perform nondestructive testing on the vessel's hull before undertaking manned dives, and alleged that he was "repeatedly told that no scan of the hull or Bond Line could be done to check for delaminations, porosity and voids of sufficient adhesion of the glue being used due to the thickness of the hull".[51][23][52]
OceanGate said that Lochridge, who was not an engineer, had refused to accept safety approvals from OceanGate's engineering team, and that the company's evaluation of the Titan hull was stronger than any kind of third-party evaluation Lochridge thought necessary.[50] OceanGate sued Lochridge for allegedly breaching his confidentiality contract and making fraudulent statements. Lochridge countersued, stating that he had been wrongfully terminated as a whistleblower for bringing up concerns about the Titan's ability to operate safely. The two parties settled a few months later.[53][51][54]
Later in 2018, the Marine Technology Society wrote a letter to Rush expressing "unanimous concern regarding the development of 'TITAN' and the planned Titanic Expedition", indicating that the "current experimental approach ... could result in negative outcomes (from minor to catastrophic) that would have serious consequences for everyone in the industry".[55] A signatory of the letter later told The New York Times that Rush had called him after reading it to tell him that he believed industry standards were stifling innovation.[50]
In March 2018, Rob McCallum, a leading deep sea exploration specialist, emailed Rush to warn him he was potentially risking his clients' safety and advised against the submersible's use for commercial purposes until it had been independently tested and classified: "I implore you to take every care in your testing and sea trials and to be very, very conservative." In response, Rush replied that he was "tired of industry players who try to use a safety argument to stop innovation ... We have heard the baseless cries of 'you are going to kill someone' way too often. I take this as a serious personal insult." McCallum then sent Rush another email in which he said: "I think you are potentially placing yourself and your clients in a dangerous dynamic. In your race to [the] Titanic you are mirroring that famous catch cry: 'She is unsinkable'". This prompted OceanGate's lawyers to threaten McCallum with legal action.[56]
Earlier incidents
External video
video icon CBS Sunday Morning / David Pogue report on OceanGate, broadcast November 27, 2022 (YouTube)
In 2022, reporter David Pogue was onboard the surface ship when Titan became lost and could not locate the Titanic during a dive.[57][58] Pogue's December 2022 report for CBS News Sunday Morning, which questioned Titan's safety, went viral on social media after the submersible lost contact with its support ship in June 2023.[59] In the report, Pogue commented to Rush that "it seems like this submersible has some elements of MacGyvery jerry-rigged-ness". He noted that a $30 Logitech F710 wireless game controller with modified control sticks was used to steer and pitch the submersible, and that construction pipes were used as ballast.[60]
In another 2022 dive to the Titanic, one of the thrusters on the Titan was accidentally installed backwards and the submersible started spinning in circles when trying to move forward near the sea floor. As documented by the BBC documentary Take Me to Titanic, the issue was bypassed by steering while holding the game controller sideways.[61][62] According to November 2022 court filings, OceanGate reported that in a 2022 dive the submersible suffered from battery issues and as a result had to be manually attached to a lifting platform, causing damage to external components.[63][64]
Incident
The voyage was booked in early 2023. Rush approached Las Vegas businessman Jay Bloom with two discounted tickets, intending for him and his son to be on the trip. The billionaire was offered a price of $150,000 per seat, rather than the full price of $250,000, with Rush claiming that it was "safer than crossing the street". Bloom turned down the offer over safety concerns. At that time the trip was scheduled for May, but bad weather delayed it to June.[65][66]
MV Polar Prince (seen here in 2018) transported Titan and the expedition's crew to the dive site above the wreck of the Titanic.
Preparations (16–17 June)
On 16 June 2023, the expedition to the Titanic departed from St. John's, Newfoundland, aboard the research and expedition ship MV Polar Prince.
The ship arrived at the dive site on 17 June. One of the occupants, Hamish Harding, posted on Facebook: "Due to the worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years, this mission is likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023. A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow." He also indicated the operation was scheduled to begin around 04:00.[67]
Dive and disappearance (18 June)
The dive operation began on 18 June at 09:30 Newfoundland Daylight Time (NDT; UTC−02:30) (12:00 UTC).[67][68] For the first hour and a half of the descent, Titan communicated with the Polar Prince every 15 minutes, but communication stopped after a recorded communication at 11:15.[67] It was expected to resurface at 16:30.[67] At 19:10 the U.S. Coast Guard was notified of the missing vessel.[69] Titan had up to 96 hours of breathable air supply for its five passengers when it set out,[70] which would have expired on the morning of 22 June 2023 if the submersible had remained intact.[71]
A U.S. Navy acoustic detection system designed to locate military submarines detected an acoustic signature consistent with an implosion hours after Titan submerged.[8] This was discovered after the submersible was reported missing, which caused the Navy to review its acoustic data from that time period. The Navy passed the information to the Coast Guard.[72]
Search (18–22 June)
Rear Admiral John Mauger delivers a press briefing in Boston on 19 June 2023
Photo of the Deep Energy ship
Deep Energy (pictured in the Netherlands, 2015) arrived with two ROVs on 20 June
U.S. Coast Guard HC-130 flying over L'Atalante on 21 June
The United States Coast Guard, United States Navy, and Canadian Coast Guard led the search and rescue efforts.[73] Aircraft from the Royal Canadian Air Force and United States Air National Guard, a Royal Canadian Navy ship, and several commercial and research ships and remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROVs) also assisted in the search.[74][75][13] The search involved both a surface search and an underwater sonar search.[43] As of 22 June, the agencies are continuing efforts to map debris and investigate what occurred.[76]
Crews from the Northeast Sector of the United States Coast Guard, based in Boston, launched search missions 900 nautical miles (1,700 km) from the shore of Cape Cod, Massachusetts.[77][78] Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Halifax reported that a Royal Canadian Air Force Lockheed CP-140 Aurora aircraft and CCGS Kopit Hopson 1752 were participating in the search in response to a request for assistance by the Maritime Rescue Coordination Center in Boston made on 18 June at 21:43 (00:13 UTC).[74][79] The search on 19 June involved three C-130 Hercules aircraft, two from the United States and one from Canada;[80] a P-8 Poseidon aircraft from the United States, and sonobuoys.[81] Search and rescue was hampered by low visibility weather conditions, which cleared the next day.[82]
The U.S. Coast Guard indicated that the search and rescue mission was difficult because of the remote location, weather, darkness, sea conditions, and water temperature.[83] Rear Admiral John Mauger stated that they were "deploying all available assets".[39] While many submersibles are equipped with an acoustic beacon which emits sounds that can be detected underwater by rescuers, it is unknown if the Titan had such a device.[83]
Neither the U.S. nor Canada has underwater vessels capable of easily assisting in the search and rescue missions.[83] The U.S. Navy has one deep-submergence rescue vehicle, although the vessel cannot reach the depths at the search site. The Navy also has ROVs, but these vessels would take days to reach the disaster site.[83]
Digital display showing the aircraft registration, the date, the time in UTC "20:38:43z", and the text 'Can you keep an eye out outside for the next 20mins, you are in the area of the missing sub.'
Passing aircraft were asked to look out for Titan, as seen in this New York Oceanic (KZWY) ATC message, displayed in the cockpit of El Al's Boeing 787-9, 4X-EDL on 20 June
The pipe-laying ship Deep Energy, operated by TechnipFMC, arrived on site on 20 June 2023, with two ROVs and other equipment suited to the seabed depths in the area.[13] As of 10:45 (13:15 UTC), the U.S. Coast Guard had searched 10,000 square miles (26,000 km2).[84] An Air National Guard C-130 also joined in the search and rescue mission, with plans for two more to join by the end of the day.[75]
According to an internal American government memo, a Canadian CP-140 Aurora's sonar picked up underwater noises while searching for the submersible.[85][86] The U.S. Coast Guard officially acknowledged the sounds early the following morning, but reported that early investigations had not yielded results.[85] Rear Admiral John Mauger of the U.S. Coast Guard said the source of the noise was unknown and may have come from the many metal objects at the site of the wreck.[87] A Canadian CP-140 Aurora plane had previously spotted a "white rectangular object" floating on the surface. A ship sent to find and identify the object was diverted to help find the source of the noise.[88] The noises were later described by the U.S. Coast Guard as being apparently unrelated to the missing vessel.[89]
CCGS John Cabot arrived in the morning of 21 June, bringing additional sonar capabilities to the search effort. Commercial vessels Skandi Vinland and Atlantic Merlin also arrived that day, as did a Coast Guard C-130 crew.[90] As of approximately 15:00 (17:30 UTC), five air and water vehicles were actively searching for the Titan, and another five were expected to arrive in the next 24–48 hours.[91] Search and rescue assets included two ROVs, one CP-140 Aurora aircraft, and the C-130 aircraft.[91]
The U.S. Navy's Flyaway Deep Ocean Salvage System (FADOSS), a ship lift system designed to lift large and heavy objects from the deep sea, arrived in St. John's, though no ships were available to carry the system to the wreck site.[92][93] Officials estimated it would take around 24 hours to weld the FADOSS system to the deck of a carrier ship before it could set sail to the search and rescue operation.[93]
Despite rising concerns about depletion of air supplies on the Titan if it were intact, a U.S. Coast Guard spokesperson stated at a press conference that "This is a search and rescue mission 100%", rather than a wreckage recovery mission.[94]
Rear Admiral John Mauger delivers a press briefing in Boston on 22 June
An Odysseus 6k ROV from Canadian-flagged offshore tug MV Horizon Arctic reached the sea floor and began its search for the missing submersible.[95][96][97] The French RV L'Atalante also deployed its ROV Victor 6000, which can reach depths of up to 6,000 m (20,000 ft) and transmit images to the surface.[98]
Discovery of debris (22 June)
At 13:18 NDT (15:48 UTC) the U.S. Coast Guard's Northeast Sector announced that a debris field had been found near the wreck of the Titanic.[99][100][101] The debris, located by the Horizon Arctic's Odysseus 6k remotely operated vehicle five hours into its search, was later confirmed to be part of the submersible.[102] At an afternoon press conference, the U.S. Coast Guard said that the loss of the submersible was due to an implosion of the pressure chamber and that pieces of the Titan had been found on the sea floor approximately 1,600 feet (about 500 metres) from the bow of the Titanic.[103][104]
The identified debris consists of the tail cone (not part of the pressure vessel) and the forward and aft end bells – both part of the pressure vessel intended to protect the crew from the ocean environment.[105] According to the U.S. Coast Guard, the debris field is concentrated in two areas, with the aft end bell lying separate from the front end bell and the tail cone.[106][107]
The Coast Guard stated it suspected the implosion of the pressure vessel likely occurred while the craft was traversing the water column and that the implosion probably occurred before any rescue operations started, because the highly sensitive sonobuoys did not pick up any acoustic signal suggesting an implosion.[108] Rear Admiral John Mauger said he did not have an answer about whether the bodies would be recovered.[76] OceanGate issued a statement regarding the deaths of the people aboard.[102]
23 June
Pelagic Research Services confirmed on 23 June that a new mission to the Titan debris field was already underway and that it had taken the ROV one hour to reach the site. It was further reported however that the debris from the Titan sub is too heavy for Pelagic's ROV to lift and that any recovery would need to take place at a later stage.[109]
The Canadian Transportation Safety Board announced that it had launched an investigation into the submersible implosion. A team of TSB investigators headed to St John’s, Newfoundland – from where the journey began – to "gather information, conduct interviews and assess the occurrence", with other agencies on the ground also expected to be involved.[110][111][112]
Fatalities
Stockton Rush (61), an American submersible pilot, engineer and businessman. He was the chief executive and co-founder of OceanGate.[113]
Paul-Henri Nargeolet (77), a former French Navy commander, diver, submersible pilot, member of the French Institute for Research and Exploitation of the Sea,[36][39] and director of underwater research for E/M Group and RMS Titanic, Inc.,[114] which owns salvage rights to the wreckage site.[115] Nargeolet led more than 35 expeditions to the wreck,[116] supervised the recovery of thousands of artifacts, and was "widely considered the leading authority on the wreck site".[114]
Hamish Harding (58), a British businessman, aviator, and space tourist.[117][39] He had previously descended into the Mariana Trench, broken the Guinness World Record for a circumnavigation of the Earth, and flew into space in 2022 on Blue Origin NS-21.
Shahzada Dawood (48), a Pakistani-British businessman of the Dawood Hercules Corporation,[118][119] a grandson of Pakistani industrialist Ahmed Dawood and a trustee at the SETI Institute.[120] He was one of the wealthiest people in Pakistan.[118]
Suleman Dawood (19), the son of Shahzada Dawood, who was a student at the University of Strathclyde.[121][43]
Reactions
Discussing the scale of the search and rescue response, Sean Leet, co-founder and chair of Horizon, the company that owns the Polar Prince, said, "I've been in the marine industry since a very young age and seen a lot of different situations, and I've never seen equipment of that nature move that quickly [...] The response from the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Military, folks at the airport, the people here, various companies who were involved in the mobilization of that equipment [...] it was done flawlessly."[122]
The scale of the search and rescue efforts and media coverage compared to those for the Messenia migrant boat disaster days earlier has sparked criticism.[123] The search for the Titan likely cost millions of dollars of public funds.[124] Ishaan Tharoor of the Washington Post noted that Pakistani internet users compared and contrasted the Pakistani victims in both incidents.[125] The Messenia, a fishing boat carrying an estimated 400 to 750 migrants, sank, with nearly 100 people confirmed dead,[126] another 100 rescued,[127] and several hundred more still missing.[128] Search and rescue efforts for the Messenia were conducted by the Hellenic Coast Guard and military.[129]
According to David Scott-Beddard, the CEO of the Titanic exhibition company White Star Memories Ltd, the likelihood of conducting future research at the Titanic wreck has decreased due to the loss of the Titan submersible.[130]
The submersible became widely discussed on social media as the story developed, and inspired internet memes, many of which ridiculed the submersible's deficient construction, OceanGate's poor safety record[131] and the victims. The memes were criticized as insensitive, with David Pogue commenting that they were "inappropriate and a little bit sick".[131][132] Some have felt the negative reaction to the victims may be attributed to rising backlash against the rich following the COVID-19 pandemic.[131]
James Cameron, who directed the 1997 film Titanic and has visited the wreck 33 times, said he was "struck by the similarity" between the submersible's implosion and the events that led to the Titanic disaster.[133] Cameron criticized the choice of carbon-fibre composite construction of the pressure vessel, pointing out that such material has "no strength in compression" when subject to the immense pressures at depth. He also criticized Rush's real-time monitoring of the submarine's hull as an inadequate solution that would do little to prevent an implosion.[49]
See also
List of inventors killed by their own invention
List of submarine incidents since 2000
List of shipwrecks in 2023
Rescue of Roger Mallinson and Roger Chapman – Rescue of two crew of a submersible, the deepest search rescue in history
hxxps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titan
I felt seeing this as a wikopedia writing, it seemed the most subdued to me. Cuz I cannot know more about this than the slim amount I do know. We don't need extra pain. And I lift up their families to You, Lord God. Grant them the peace that surpasseth understanding. I just don't wanna comprehend this fully with errors and design had changed. I just care that five people had an awful death. The kid was afraid to go. But he did it for fathers day. It all just breaks my heart too much. Others will hold them liable for the many safety violations. I pray they all made Heaven.
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Coordinates: 41°43′32″N 49°56′49″W
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A request that this article title be changed to 2023 Titan submersible disappearance is under discussion. Please do not move this article until the discussion is closed.
2023 Titan submersible incident
Date 18 June 2023
Location North Atlantic Ocean, near the wreck of the Titanic
Coordinates 41°43′32″N 49°56′49″W
Cause Failure of the pressure hull
Participants OceanGate
Outcome Submersible destroyed by implosion[1]
Deaths 5 (see fatalities)
MapWikimedia | © OpenStreetMap
MV Polar Prince departed St. John's, Newfoundland (1) on 16 June, and arrived at the dive site (2) on 17 June, where the Titan was deployed and began its descent the day after.
On 18 June 2023, Titan, a submersible operated by OceanGate, disappeared in international waters in the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately 400 nautical miles (740 km) off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.[2][3] The submersible, carrying five people, was part of a tourist expedition to observe the wreck of the Titanic. Communication with Titan was lost 1 hour and 45 minutes into its dive to the wreck site. Authorities were alerted when it failed to resurface at the scheduled time later that day.[4][5]
After a search lasting nearly 80 hours, a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) discovered a debris field containing parts of the Titan, approximately 1,600 feet (about 500 metres) from the bow of the Titanic. The findings were based on the U.S. Navy's declassified sonar detection of an implosion in the area on the day of the voyage, which suggested that the pressure vessel had imploded while Titan was descending, resulting in the instant death of all five occupants.[6][7][8]
Concerns had been raised about the safety of the vessel. OceanGate executives did not seek certification for the Titan, arguing that excessive safety protocols hindered innovation.[9] The search and rescue operation was conducted by an international team led by the United States Coast Guard, United States Navy, and Canadian Coast Guard.[10] Support was provided by aircraft from the Royal Canadian Air Force and United States Air National Guard, a Royal Canadian Navy ship, as well as several commercial and research vessels and ROVs.[11][12][13]
Background
OceanGate
Main article: OceanGate
OceanGate is a private company founded by Stockton Rush and Guillermo Söhnlein in 2009. Since 2010, it has leased and transported paying customers in commercial submersibles off the coast of California, in the Gulf of Mexico, and in the Atlantic Ocean.[14] The company is based in Everett, Washington, U.S.[15]
Rush realized that visiting shipwreck sites was a way to get media attention, and in 2016 the company transported customers to a shipwreck for the first time, utilizing their submersible Cyclops 1 to visit the Andrea Doria wreck site. In 2019, Rush told Smithsonian magazine "There's only one wreck that everyone knows [...] If you ask people to name something underwater, it's going to be sharks, whales, Titanic."[14]
Titanic
Main article: Wreck of the Titanic
The Titanic was a British ocean liner that sank in the North Atlantic on 15 April 1912, after colliding with an iceberg. More than 1,500 died, making it the deadliest sinking of a single ship up to that time.[16][17] In 1985, the wreckage was discovered on the ocean floor around 400 nautical miles (740 km; 460 mi) from the coast of Newfoundland.[18] The wreck lies at a depth of about 3,810 metres (12,500 feet; 2,080 fathoms).[19]
Titan submersible
Main article: OceanGate § Titan
OceanGate's Cyclops 1, the predecessor of the Titan. The Titan had a 380 mm (15 inch) window.
Titan was a five-person submersible vessel operated by OceanGate Inc The 6.7-metre-long (22 ft), 10,432 kg (23,000 lb) vessel was constructed from carbon fibre and titanium.[20] The entire pressure vessel consisted of two titanium hemispheres, two matching titanium interface rings, connected by the 142 cm (56 in) internal diameter, 2.4-metre-long (7.9 ft) carbon fibre-wound cylinder.[21] One of the titanium hemispherical end caps was fitted with a 380 mm-diameter (15 in) acrylic window.[22] In 2020, Rush stated that the hull had been downgraded to a depth rating of 3,000 m (9,800 ft) after demonstrating signs of cyclic fatigue. In 2020 and 2021, the hull was repaired or rebuilt.[23]
A picture of Logitech F710, the game controller used aboard the Titan
A Logitech F710 wireless game controller. A modified version was used to steer the Titan.
Titan could move at up to 3 knots (5.6 km/h; 3.5 mph) using four electric thrusters, arrayed two horizontal and two vertical.[24] Its steering controls consisted of a Logitech F710 wireless game controller with modified analogue sticks. The use of off-the-shelf game controllers is not particularly unusual among vehicles such as submarines that need more than just a steering wheel to control.[25][26][27]
OceanGate claimed on its website as of 2023 that Titan was "designed and engineered by OceanGate Inc. in collaboration [with] experts from NASA, Boeing, and the University of Washington" (UW). A 1⁄3-scale model of the Cyclops 2 pressure vessel was built and tested at the Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) at UW; the model was able to sustain a pressure of 4,285 psi (29.54 MPa; 291.6 atm), corresponding to a depth of approximately 3,000 m (9,800 ft).[28] After the disappearance of the Titan in 2023, UW claimed the APL had no involvement in "design, engineering, or testing of the Titan submersible". A Boeing spokesperson also claimed Boeing "was not a partner on the Titan and did not design or build it". A NASA spokesperson said that NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center had a Space Act Agreement with OceanGate, but "did not conduct testing and manufacturing via its workforce or facilities".[29]
According to OceanGate, the vessel contained monitoring systems to continuously monitor the strength of the hull.[20] The vessel had life support for five crew members for 96 hours.[20] There was no on-board navigation system; the support ship, which monitored the position of Titan relative to its target, sent text messages to Titan providing distances and directions.[30]
According to OceanGate, the Titan had seven backup systems intended to return the vessel to surface in case of emergency, including ballasts that could be dropped, a balloon, and thrusters. Some of the backup systems were designed to work even if all aboard the submersible were unconscious; there were sandbags held by hooks that dissolved after a certain number of hours in the water to release the sandbags, ideally letting the vessel float to the surface.[2][31] An OceanGate investor explained that if the vessel did not automatically ascend after the elapsed time, those inside the vessel could help release the ballast either by tilting the ship back and forth to dislodge it or by utilizing a pneumatic pump to loosen the weights.[32]
Expeditions to the Titanic
The Titan made its first dive to the Titanic in July 2021.[33] In total, OceanGate undertook six dives to Titanic in 2021 and seven in 2022.[34]
Each dive typically had a pilot, a guide and three paying passengers on board.[4] Once inside the submersible, the hatch would be bolted shut and could only be reopened from the outside.[35] The descent from the surface to the Titanic typically took two hours,[36] with the full dive taking approximately eight hours.[4] Throughout the journey, the submersible was expected to emit a safety ping every 15 minutes to be monitored by the above-water crew.[18] The vessel and surface crew were also able to communicate via short text messages.[37]
Customers who travelled to the Titanic with OceanGate, referred to as "mission specialists" by the company,[38] paid US$250,000 each for the eight-day expedition.[4][39][40]
OceanGate intended to conduct multiple expeditions to the Titanic in 2023, but because of poor weather in Newfoundland, the company had only launched a single expedition in 2023.[4][36]
Safety and concerns
Safety
Because the Titan operated in international waters and did not carry passengers from a port, it was not subject to safety regulations. The vessel was not certified as seaworthy by any regulatory agency or third-party organization.[41] Reporter David Pogue, who completed the expedition in 2022 as part of a CBS News Sunday Morning feature,[42] stated that all passengers who enter the Titan sign a waiver confirming their knowledge that it is an "experimental" vessel "that has not been approved or certified by any regulatory body, and could result in physical injury, disability, emotional trauma or death".[43] Television producer Mike Reiss, who also completed the expedition, noted the waiver "mention[s] death three times on page one".[44] A 2019 article published in Smithsonian magazine referred to Rush as a "daredevil inventor".[14] In the article, Rush is described as having said the U.S. Passenger Vessel Safety Act of 1993 "needlessly prioritized passenger safety over commercial innovation".[14][45] In a 2022 interview, Rush told CBS News, "At some point, safety just is pure waste. I mean, if you just want to be safe, don't get out of bed. Don't get in your car. Don't do anything."[46] Speaking in a 2021 interview, Rush further observed, "I've broken some rules to make [the Titan]. I think I've broken them with logic and good engineering behind me. The carbon fiber and titanium, there's a rule you don't do that. Well, I did."[47]
OceanGate claimed that Titan was the only manned submersible that used RTM, "an integrated real-time health monitoring system". The proprietary system, patented by Rush, employed acoustic sensors and strain gauges at the pressure boundary to analyze the effects of increasing pressure as the watercraft ventured deeper into the ocean and to monitor the hull's integrity in real time. This supposedly would function to give early warning of problems and allow enough time to abort the descent and return to the surface.[48][49]
Prior concerns
In 2018, OceanGate's director of marine operations, David Lochridge, composed a report documenting safety concerns he had about the Titan. In court documents, Lochridge said that he had urged the company to have the Titan assessed and certified by an agency, but OceanGate had declined to do so, citing an unwillingness to pay.[50] He also said that the transparent viewport on its forward end was only certified to reach a depth of 1,300 m (4,300 ft), only a third of the depth required to reach the Titanic.[51] Lochridge was also concerned that OceanGate would not perform nondestructive testing on the vessel's hull before undertaking manned dives, and alleged that he was "repeatedly told that no scan of the hull or Bond Line could be done to check for delaminations, porosity and voids of sufficient adhesion of the glue being used due to the thickness of the hull".[51][23][52]
OceanGate said that Lochridge, who was not an engineer, had refused to accept safety approvals from OceanGate's engineering team, and that the company's evaluation of the Titan hull was stronger than any kind of third-party evaluation Lochridge thought necessary.[50] OceanGate sued Lochridge for allegedly breaching his confidentiality contract and making fraudulent statements. Lochridge countersued, stating that he had been wrongfully terminated as a whistleblower for bringing up concerns about the Titan's ability to operate safely. The two parties settled a few months later.[53][51][54]
Later in 2018, the Marine Technology Society wrote a letter to Rush expressing "unanimous concern regarding the development of 'TITAN' and the planned Titanic Expedition", indicating that the "current experimental approach ... could result in negative outcomes (from minor to catastrophic) that would have serious consequences for everyone in the industry".[55] A signatory of the letter later told The New York Times that Rush had called him after reading it to tell him that he believed industry standards were stifling innovation.[50]
In March 2018, Rob McCallum, a leading deep sea exploration specialist, emailed Rush to warn him he was potentially risking his clients' safety and advised against the submersible's use for commercial purposes until it had been independently tested and classified: "I implore you to take every care in your testing and sea trials and to be very, very conservative." In response, Rush replied that he was "tired of industry players who try to use a safety argument to stop innovation ... We have heard the baseless cries of 'you are going to kill someone' way too often. I take this as a serious personal insult." McCallum then sent Rush another email in which he said: "I think you are potentially placing yourself and your clients in a dangerous dynamic. In your race to [the] Titanic you are mirroring that famous catch cry: 'She is unsinkable'". This prompted OceanGate's lawyers to threaten McCallum with legal action.[56]
Earlier incidents
External video
video icon CBS Sunday Morning / David Pogue report on OceanGate, broadcast November 27, 2022 (YouTube)
In 2022, reporter David Pogue was onboard the surface ship when Titan became lost and could not locate the Titanic during a dive.[57][58] Pogue's December 2022 report for CBS News Sunday Morning, which questioned Titan's safety, went viral on social media after the submersible lost contact with its support ship in June 2023.[59] In the report, Pogue commented to Rush that "it seems like this submersible has some elements of MacGyvery jerry-rigged-ness". He noted that a $30 Logitech F710 wireless game controller with modified control sticks was used to steer and pitch the submersible, and that construction pipes were used as ballast.[60]
In another 2022 dive to the Titanic, one of the thrusters on the Titan was accidentally installed backwards and the submersible started spinning in circles when trying to move forward near the sea floor. As documented by the BBC documentary Take Me to Titanic, the issue was bypassed by steering while holding the game controller sideways.[61][62] According to November 2022 court filings, OceanGate reported that in a 2022 dive the submersible suffered from battery issues and as a result had to be manually attached to a lifting platform, causing damage to external components.[63][64]
Incident
The voyage was booked in early 2023. Rush approached Las Vegas businessman Jay Bloom with two discounted tickets, intending for him and his son to be on the trip. The billionaire was offered a price of $150,000 per seat, rather than the full price of $250,000, with Rush claiming that it was "safer than crossing the street". Bloom turned down the offer over safety concerns. At that time the trip was scheduled for May, but bad weather delayed it to June.[65][66]
MV Polar Prince (seen here in 2018) transported Titan and the expedition's crew to the dive site above the wreck of the Titanic.
Preparations (16–17 June)
On 16 June 2023, the expedition to the Titanic departed from St. John's, Newfoundland, aboard the research and expedition ship MV Polar Prince.
The ship arrived at the dive site on 17 June. One of the occupants, Hamish Harding, posted on Facebook: "Due to the worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years, this mission is likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023. A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow." He also indicated the operation was scheduled to begin around 04:00.[67]
Dive and disappearance (18 June)
The dive operation began on 18 June at 09:30 Newfoundland Daylight Time (NDT; UTC−02:30) (12:00 UTC).[67][68] For the first hour and a half of the descent, Titan communicated with the Polar Prince every 15 minutes, but communication stopped after a recorded communication at 11:15.[67] It was expected to resurface at 16:30.[67] At 19:10 the U.S. Coast Guard was notified of the missing vessel.[69] Titan had up to 96 hours of breathable air supply for its five passengers when it set out,[70] which would have expired on the morning of 22 June 2023 if the submersible had remained intact.[71]
A U.S. Navy acoustic detection system designed to locate military submarines detected an acoustic signature consistent with an implosion hours after Titan submerged.[8] This was discovered after the submersible was reported missing, which caused the Navy to review its acoustic data from that time period. The Navy passed the information to the Coast Guard.[72]
Search (18–22 June)
Rear Admiral John Mauger delivers a press briefing in Boston on 19 June 2023
Photo of the Deep Energy ship
Deep Energy (pictured in the Netherlands, 2015) arrived with two ROVs on 20 June
U.S. Coast Guard HC-130 flying over L'Atalante on 21 June
The United States Coast Guard, United States Navy, and Canadian Coast Guard led the search and rescue efforts.[73] Aircraft from the Royal Canadian Air Force and United States Air National Guard, a Royal Canadian Navy ship, and several commercial and research ships and remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROVs) also assisted in the search.[74][75][13] The search involved both a surface search and an underwater sonar search.[43] As of 22 June, the agencies are continuing efforts to map debris and investigate what occurred.[76]
Crews from the Northeast Sector of the United States Coast Guard, based in Boston, launched search missions 900 nautical miles (1,700 km) from the shore of Cape Cod, Massachusetts.[77][78] Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Halifax reported that a Royal Canadian Air Force Lockheed CP-140 Aurora aircraft and CCGS Kopit Hopson 1752 were participating in the search in response to a request for assistance by the Maritime Rescue Coordination Center in Boston made on 18 June at 21:43 (00:13 UTC).[74][79] The search on 19 June involved three C-130 Hercules aircraft, two from the United States and one from Canada;[80] a P-8 Poseidon aircraft from the United States, and sonobuoys.[81] Search and rescue was hampered by low visibility weather conditions, which cleared the next day.[82]
The U.S. Coast Guard indicated that the search and rescue mission was difficult because of the remote location, weather, darkness, sea conditions, and water temperature.[83] Rear Admiral John Mauger stated that they were "deploying all available assets".[39] While many submersibles are equipped with an acoustic beacon which emits sounds that can be detected underwater by rescuers, it is unknown if the Titan had such a device.[83]
Neither the U.S. nor Canada has underwater vessels capable of easily assisting in the search and rescue missions.[83] The U.S. Navy has one deep-submergence rescue vehicle, although the vessel cannot reach the depths at the search site. The Navy also has ROVs, but these vessels would take days to reach the disaster site.[83]
Digital display showing the aircraft registration, the date, the time in UTC "20:38:43z", and the text 'Can you keep an eye out outside for the next 20mins, you are in the area of the missing sub.'
Passing aircraft were asked to look out for Titan, as seen in this New York Oceanic (KZWY) ATC message, displayed in the cockpit of El Al's Boeing 787-9, 4X-EDL on 20 June
The pipe-laying ship Deep Energy, operated by TechnipFMC, arrived on site on 20 June 2023, with two ROVs and other equipment suited to the seabed depths in the area.[13] As of 10:45 (13:15 UTC), the U.S. Coast Guard had searched 10,000 square miles (26,000 km2).[84] An Air National Guard C-130 also joined in the search and rescue mission, with plans for two more to join by the end of the day.[75]
According to an internal American government memo, a Canadian CP-140 Aurora's sonar picked up underwater noises while searching for the submersible.[85][86] The U.S. Coast Guard officially acknowledged the sounds early the following morning, but reported that early investigations had not yielded results.[85] Rear Admiral John Mauger of the U.S. Coast Guard said the source of the noise was unknown and may have come from the many metal objects at the site of the wreck.[87] A Canadian CP-140 Aurora plane had previously spotted a "white rectangular object" floating on the surface. A ship sent to find and identify the object was diverted to help find the source of the noise.[88] The noises were later described by the U.S. Coast Guard as being apparently unrelated to the missing vessel.[89]
CCGS John Cabot arrived in the morning of 21 June, bringing additional sonar capabilities to the search effort. Commercial vessels Skandi Vinland and Atlantic Merlin also arrived that day, as did a Coast Guard C-130 crew.[90] As of approximately 15:00 (17:30 UTC), five air and water vehicles were actively searching for the Titan, and another five were expected to arrive in the next 24–48 hours.[91] Search and rescue assets included two ROVs, one CP-140 Aurora aircraft, and the C-130 aircraft.[91]
The U.S. Navy's Flyaway Deep Ocean Salvage System (FADOSS), a ship lift system designed to lift large and heavy objects from the deep sea, arrived in St. John's, though no ships were available to carry the system to the wreck site.[92][93] Officials estimated it would take around 24 hours to weld the FADOSS system to the deck of a carrier ship before it could set sail to the search and rescue operation.[93]
Despite rising concerns about depletion of air supplies on the Titan if it were intact, a U.S. Coast Guard spokesperson stated at a press conference that "This is a search and rescue mission 100%", rather than a wreckage recovery mission.[94]
Rear Admiral John Mauger delivers a press briefing in Boston on 22 June
An Odysseus 6k ROV from Canadian-flagged offshore tug MV Horizon Arctic reached the sea floor and began its search for the missing submersible.[95][96][97] The French RV L'Atalante also deployed its ROV Victor 6000, which can reach depths of up to 6,000 m (20,000 ft) and transmit images to the surface.[98]
Discovery of debris (22 June)
At 13:18 NDT (15:48 UTC) the U.S. Coast Guard's Northeast Sector announced that a debris field had been found near the wreck of the Titanic.[99][100][101] The debris, located by the Horizon Arctic's Odysseus 6k remotely operated vehicle five hours into its search, was later confirmed to be part of the submersible.[102] At an afternoon press conference, the U.S. Coast Guard said that the loss of the submersible was due to an implosion of the pressure chamber and that pieces of the Titan had been found on the sea floor approximately 1,600 feet (about 500 metres) from the bow of the Titanic.[103][104]
The identified debris consists of the tail cone (not part of the pressure vessel) and the forward and aft end bells – both part of the pressure vessel intended to protect the crew from the ocean environment.[105] According to the U.S. Coast Guard, the debris field is concentrated in two areas, with the aft end bell lying separate from the front end bell and the tail cone.[106][107]
The Coast Guard stated it suspected the implosion of the pressure vessel likely occurred while the craft was traversing the water column and that the implosion probably occurred before any rescue operations started, because the highly sensitive sonobuoys did not pick up any acoustic signal suggesting an implosion.[108] Rear Admiral John Mauger said he did not have an answer about whether the bodies would be recovered.[76] OceanGate issued a statement regarding the deaths of the people aboard.[102]
23 June
Pelagic Research Services confirmed on 23 June that a new mission to the Titan debris field was already underway and that it had taken the ROV one hour to reach the site. It was further reported however that the debris from the Titan sub is too heavy for Pelagic's ROV to lift and that any recovery would need to take place at a later stage.[109]
The Canadian Transportation Safety Board announced that it had launched an investigation into the submersible implosion. A team of TSB investigators headed to St John’s, Newfoundland – from where the journey began – to "gather information, conduct interviews and assess the occurrence", with other agencies on the ground also expected to be involved.[110][111][112]
Fatalities
Stockton Rush (61), an American submersible pilot, engineer and businessman. He was the chief executive and co-founder of OceanGate.[113]
Paul-Henri Nargeolet (77), a former French Navy commander, diver, submersible pilot, member of the French Institute for Research and Exploitation of the Sea,[36][39] and director of underwater research for E/M Group and RMS Titanic, Inc.,[114] which owns salvage rights to the wreckage site.[115] Nargeolet led more than 35 expeditions to the wreck,[116] supervised the recovery of thousands of artifacts, and was "widely considered the leading authority on the wreck site".[114]
Hamish Harding (58), a British businessman, aviator, and space tourist.[117][39] He had previously descended into the Mariana Trench, broken the Guinness World Record for a circumnavigation of the Earth, and flew into space in 2022 on Blue Origin NS-21.
Shahzada Dawood (48), a Pakistani-British businessman of the Dawood Hercules Corporation,[118][119] a grandson of Pakistani industrialist Ahmed Dawood and a trustee at the SETI Institute.[120] He was one of the wealthiest people in Pakistan.[118]
Suleman Dawood (19), the son of Shahzada Dawood, who was a student at the University of Strathclyde.[121][43]
Reactions
Discussing the scale of the search and rescue response, Sean Leet, co-founder and chair of Horizon, the company that owns the Polar Prince, said, "I've been in the marine industry since a very young age and seen a lot of different situations, and I've never seen equipment of that nature move that quickly [...] The response from the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Military, folks at the airport, the people here, various companies who were involved in the mobilization of that equipment [...] it was done flawlessly."[122]
The scale of the search and rescue efforts and media coverage compared to those for the Messenia migrant boat disaster days earlier has sparked criticism.[123] The search for the Titan likely cost millions of dollars of public funds.[124] Ishaan Tharoor of the Washington Post noted that Pakistani internet users compared and contrasted the Pakistani victims in both incidents.[125] The Messenia, a fishing boat carrying an estimated 400 to 750 migrants, sank, with nearly 100 people confirmed dead,[126] another 100 rescued,[127] and several hundred more still missing.[128] Search and rescue efforts for the Messenia were conducted by the Hellenic Coast Guard and military.[129]
According to David Scott-Beddard, the CEO of the Titanic exhibition company White Star Memories Ltd, the likelihood of conducting future research at the Titanic wreck has decreased due to the loss of the Titan submersible.[130]
The submersible became widely discussed on social media as the story developed, and inspired internet memes, many of which ridiculed the submersible's deficient construction, OceanGate's poor safety record[131] and the victims. The memes were criticized as insensitive, with David Pogue commenting that they were "inappropriate and a little bit sick".[131][132] Some have felt the negative reaction to the victims may be attributed to rising backlash against the rich following the COVID-19 pandemic.[131]
James Cameron, who directed the 1997 film Titanic and has visited the wreck 33 times, said he was "struck by the similarity" between the submersible's implosion and the events that led to the Titanic disaster.[133] Cameron criticized the choice of carbon-fibre composite construction of the pressure vessel, pointing out that such material has "no strength in compression" when subject to the immense pressures at depth. He also criticized Rush's real-time monitoring of the submarine's hull as an inadequate solution that would do little to prevent an implosion.[49]
See also
List of inventors killed by their own invention
List of submarine incidents since 2000
List of shipwrecks in 2023
Rescue of Roger Mallinson and Roger Chapman – Rescue of two crew of a submersible, the deepest search rescue in history
hxxps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titan
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