When five men died in the implosion of the Titan submersible during a dive to the Titanic’s resting place on June 18, 2023, Paul-Henri Nargeolet’s knowledge was also lost. It was Nargeolet’s 38th dive to the sunken liner. Known as Mr. Titanic, he helped recover thousands of artifacts that were displayed in museums and events around the world.
A year later, the company for which he worked as head of underwater research is preparing a July expedition that will use two robots in submersible boats instead of humans in search of more treasures for the future.
Jessica Sanders, president of RMS Titanic, which is organizing the expedition, said: “Artifact recovery is an art and a human element that technology can never replace – nor should it replace.” She said Mr Nargeolet had this type of experience Expertise embodied.
On the other hand, she said that the results of the robotic expedition “will speak for themselves.”
The plans by Mr. Nargeolet’s former employers highlight one of the more immediate effects of the Titan disaster: the prioritization of robots to navigate the icy depths rather than humans as pilots of submersibles. The robots are considered safer.
At the same time, however, actors in the underwater world are pushing for stronger international regulation to prevent another catastrophe. They want to close the loophole that OceanGate, the maker of Titan, exploited by foregoing voluntary safety certifications that the industry uses to reduce the significant risks to deep divers.
The many fans of human-operated submersibles want to ensure that Mr. Nargeolet’s legacy paves the way for a new generation of explorers. This could include future human pilots recovering more of Titanic’s remains and paraphernalia – rivets, fine china, bottles of champagne – scattered across about three square miles of seafloor in the North Atlantic.
On his final dive, Mr. Nargeolet hoped to catch a glimpse of one of his longtime salvage targets – the wireless telegraph that transmitted the Titanic’s distress calls. The responding ships rescued hundreds of survivors, including women and children in lifeboats. In his autobiography, Mr Nargeolet said the Titanic’s wreckage around the famous telegraph was “likely to collapse in the short term”, making its rescue “all the more urgent”.
James Cameron, known for his 1997 film “Titanic,” also supports the resurrection of the telegraph. “To actually put this instrument on public display would be very moving for millions of museum visitors,” he said in an interview last year.
When Mr. Nargeolet made his first Titanic dive in 1987, underwater robots were rare. Then Cold War spin-offs skyrocketed their capabilities and numbers. Robert D. Christ of the Marine Technology Society, an industry group, said the number is now in the thousands and that perhaps about a hundred could descend to the depths of the Titanic, more than two miles deep.
Large underwater robots are brimming with lights, computers, video cameras, mapping systems, sensors and manipulator arms. Most have long lines connecting them to motherships. Above, operators use joysticks and monitors to control the action below.
The July expedition to the Titanic, located about 370 miles off Newfoundland, Canada, will involve two submersibles from the Chouest Group, a Louisiana-based family of companies that supplies the offshore oil industry. In May, the company announced the acquisition of another company that expanded its underwater fleet to more than 100 robots.
“I’ve been wondering for a few years why anyone still makes deep submersibles,” said Tyler Schilling, an industry pioneer who founded Schilling Robotics in Davis, California, referring to human-piloted vessels. “I think the Titan situation is the only sensible answer – people want the adventure.”
The adventure factor is real and healthy, say supporters of submersibles, because it helps create a deep public appreciation for the wonders of the world’s oceans.
A new generation of human-piloted submersibles is expected to increase the appeal. Known as bubble submarines, they have spherical hulls made of clear plastic, allowing their passengers breathtaking panoramic views rather than peering through tiny portholes.
A bubble submarine strong enough to withstand the crushing pressures of the Titanic’s depths is now taking shape. Triton Submarines, a company in Sebastian, Florida, is building the submarine for Larry Connor, a billionaire sea adventurer from Ohio. Triton says it will set a record for how deep a bubble submarine can dive.
The new submersible aims to show the world that, unlike last year’s disaster, underwater vessels can safely and repeatedly venture into the depths of the Titanic.
“Something like this wasn’t possible a few years ago,” Patrick Lahey, president of Triton Submarines, said of the new submarine. But technological advances, he added, “allow us to do it safely.”
For example, Mr. Lahey said that through continued advances in heating and shaping thermoplastic materials, Triton could make the submersible’s transparent walls incredibly strong. Its thickness, he said, will be 16 inches – a record. Mr. Lahey added that the two-person vessel is scheduled to make its oceanic debut in early 2026.
As a company, Triton prides itself on what the Titan submersible lacked: costly rounds of inspection and testing by reputable marine organizations that specialize in certifying deep-sea vehicles as safe. It’s an industry-wide code of conduct that experts say must now become a global requirement now that titanium makers have abandoned the voluntary step.
“It has to be mandatory,” Alfred S. McLaren, a retired Navy submariner, dive pilot and president emeritus of the Explorers Club, said of the proposed modernization. “Until these testing and certification rules come into force, it’s open sea and stupid things will happen.”
Will Kohnen, chairman of the Marine Technology Society’s Submarine Committee, agreed. “We have the technology under control,” he said. “We don’t have to prove that we are safe. What we need is a regulatory framework that controls traffic and checks whether people have a driving license.”
Mr. Kohnen said that about two hundred human-piloted submersibles currently ply the world’s oceans – a tiny fraction of the deep-sea robot population – and that only about ten could descend to the Titanic’s depths.
Until the Titan disaster, submersibles had a remarkable safety record because companies adhered to the voluntary code. Despite thousands of deep dives, no person has ever died in a submersible while plunging into the sunless depths of the ocean.
Experts say it is likely that government investigations into the cause of the Titan implosion will need to be completed before new rules for submersibles are drafted. This month, the head of the American investigation, Captain Jason D. Neubauer of the Coast Guard, said that the conclusions of his investigation and the publication of its results could take another year or two.
The International Maritime Organization, the United Nations body that sets standards for safety at sea, has said it is waiting for such evidence before addressing the issue of global regulation of submersibles.
“People will embrace the change,” Salvatore Mercogliano, a maritime historian at Campbell University in North Carolina, said of the new regulation. “Everyone has safety on their minds.”
After the Titan disaster, as a reflection of new precautionary measures, the RMS Titanic decided to suspend its reliance on manned ships “pending further investigation into the cause of the implosion.”
Ms. Sanders, the president of RMS Titanic, said new confidence in the safety of submersibles would allow her company to use manned vessels again, particularly for the daunting task of retrieving the telegraph that broadcast the Titanic’s distress calls.
An early version of the recovery plan called for a piloted vehicle to partner with three robots on an expedition to recover the legendary device.
With both robots and submersibles, Ms. Sanders said her company’s overall goal is to ensure that gems from the fabled passenger ship “are not lost at sea a second time.”
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2024-06-19 15:21:46
www.nytimes.com
