Urban75 Home About Offline BrixtonBuzz Contact

Titanic tourist sub missing

These people didn't get on this milkfloat and then die because they were rich, they got on this milkfloat and died because they were cheap.

The posts upthread about other DSV's and the systems and cost involved show what the going rate of going down to 4,000m, and coming back alive, are - but these people didn't want to pay that, they decided that all that cost, testing and redundancy is for losers, and they would be fine going down there on the maritime equivalent of that forklift truck the A-Team turned into a tank that fires cabbages for a tenth of the price.

This thing isn't about wealth, it's about hubris - bad stuff doesn't happen to me because of Who I Am, and because I'm Always The Smartest Guy In The Room.

The kid is a victim of his overbearing father and the fathers pride, but the rest of them..
Rich people tend to be the cheapest though
 
Does anyone know if it's possible for wealthy tourists to visit the Titanic in a proper vessel like this at greater expense, or was the plastic tube the only option? I'd assume, given that these were people probably able to splash an extra million odd without too much pain, that their options were limited to one.

That one has done 3 other wreck dives according to wiki, it would presumably just be very expensive to charter it. It's totally overbuilt for something like the titanic, it's hull is rated to 14,000m depth equivalent (presumably what they tested in Russia, since the ocean isn't that deep)... The company that built it (Triton) has designs for a (2 person) one with a fully acrylic pressure hull, so you get nice views too. But you'd have to commission one and do all the real world testing. Some have been down to Titanic in Russian DSVs but maybe that's er... not quite so possible in the current climate. China has a three person one tested to 7500m, but again... politics. The 'revolutionary' aspect of this one was to have five people on board and be in the vein of space tourism stuff. Which was a stupid thing to try on a budget.

As always, that's mostly just from a google etc rabbit hole.
 
I'll just leave this here:

The story wasn't bigger just because it was about rich people it was because of the suspense of not knowing whether they'd be found or not, not knowing whether they'd died horribly or died really fucking horribly. The Greek shipwreck was a terrible tragedy but it was all over by the time most of us heard about it. What is there to say about it? The Titanic story has several themes, wealth, hubris, health and safety, that are worth discussing. If we allocated our discussion tine according to what caused the most deaths and the biggest tragedies we'd spend most of our time talking about cardiovascular disease and cancer.
 
The article is not whataboutery in the least. I care not whether it makes people feel uncomfortable, it raised relevant points

OK, so in your estimation it would be appropriate to post articles about actual famines happening elsewhere in the world in threads where the subject is rising food prices in the UK, where far more people are obese than starving?
 
Maybe I'm out of tune with a lot of urbs but fwiw I reckon it's better that these poor buggers died quickly.
I don't care how rich and oppressive they were: I'm really not into wishing suffering on anyone.
You don't need to wish it, the amount there is in the world. Just sometimes Bentham's utilitarian view of punishment is fitting
 
Some have been down to Titanic in Russian DSVs but maybe that's er... not quite so possible in the current climate. China has a three person one tested to 7500m, but again... politics. The 'revolutionary' aspect of this one was to have five people on board and be in the vein of space tourism stuff. Which was a stupid thing to try on a budget.

Paying tourists rather than scientific missions though? That's what I can't find.

At the moment the only paying tourists that I can find mentioned have been OceanGate customers.
 
OK, so in your estimation it would be appropriate to post articles about actual famines happening elsewhere in the world in threads where the subject is rising food prices in the UK, where far more people are obese than starving?
That is a false equivalence, have you actually read the article?
 
The story wasn't bigger just because it was about rich people it was because of the suspense of not knowing whether they'd be found or not, not knowing whether they'd died horribly or died really fucking horribly. The Greek shipwreck was a terrible tragedy but it was all over by the time most of us heard about it. What is there to say about it? The Titanic story has several themes, wealth, hubris, health and safety, that are worth discussing. If we allocated our discussion tine according to what caused the most deaths and the biggest tragedies we'd spend most of our time talking about cardiovascular disease and cancer.
i understand all this. If you haven't already I suggest you read the article. One salient point it raises is that 500 migrant lives are somehow worth less that 5 rather wealthy ones; moreover the fishing boat sinking didn't get anything like to coverage that the submersible did, likely for some of the reasons you list.
 
Last edited:
The story wasn't bigger just because it was about rich people it was because of the suspense of not knowing whether they'd be found or not, not knowing whether they'd died horribly or died really fucking horribly. The Greek shipwreck was a terrible tragedy but it was all over by the time most of us heard about it. What is there to say about it? The Titanic story has several themes, wealth, hubris, health and safety, that are worth discussing. If we allocated our discussion tine according to what caused the most deaths and the biggest tragedies we'd spend most of our time talking about cardiovascular disease and cancer.
Though I do get all of this, I do think it's very valid to compare coverage, reaction, expressions of empathy and condolence etc. to 2 (news) events that happened almost simultaneously and included reporting of the comments from the very politicians that could do something to avert med/channel tragedies
 
Paying tourists rather than scientific missions though? That's what I can't find.

At the moment the only paying tourists that I can find mentioned have been OceanGate customers.

I get the impression that 'it's complicated' applies. I mean as I mentioned Hamish Harding has been down on one of the Challenger deep expeditions, and he sure as fuck isn't a scientist... Whether he paid, whether he's a mate, whether there was a discount on a nearly new Gulfstream I have no idea. I think a few of Vescovo's passengers, even where they are scientists, are down more as tourists than to do actual work. There's a limited amount you can do other than look out the window, he's the one piloting it (or maybe a trained alternate). So as you say there has been a 'tourism' industry, but I think it's more that some entity is doing work around x site, and if you have the money and/or connections you can potentially get a seat. But yeah, it does seem Rush's was the only one trying to operate as a regular commercial service.

Guesswork though, pseudonarcissus might turn up with actual knowledge again.
 
Though I do get all of this, I do think it's very valid to compare coverage, reaction, expressions of empathy and condolence etc. to 2 (news) events that happened almost simultaneously and included reporting of the comments from the very politicians that could do something to avert med/channel tragedies

Where does it get you though?

At best you can conclude that there's far greater ongoing global interest in the fate of (possibly) living people trapped beneath the ocean and the attempts to rescue them, than there is in the fates of a significantly greater number of migrants who died the day before. When you add in the extras that Maomao mentioned regarding the hubris, incompetence etc., that's wholly unsurprising.

Even here on U75, there's a 47 page thread about Titan, but there isn't one specifically about the Greek migrant disaster.
 
Last edited:
Where does it get you though?

At best you can conclude that there's far greater ongoing global interest in the fate of (possibly) living people trapped beneath the ocean and the attempts to rescue them, than there is in the fates of a significantly greater number of migrants who died the day before. When you add in the extras that Maomao mentioned regarding the hubris, incompetence etc., that's wholly unsurprising.

Even here on U75, there's a 47 page thread about Titan, but there isn't one specifically about the Greek migrant disaster.

Touche
 
Though I do get all of this, I do think it's very valid to compare coverage, reaction, expressions of empathy and condolence etc. to 2 (news) events that happened almost simultaneously and included reporting of the comments from the very politicians that could do something to avert med/channel tragedies

I think, unfortunately, it's far more about novelty than anything else.

Submarine accidents next to the Titanic aren't exactly everyday occurrences, but deathtrap boats with hundreds of people on board fleeing poverty, starvation and war, that sink and everyone on board dies - that's (disgustingly) something that happens every week.

One is a buttercup in a field of buttercups, one is an orchid in a field of buttercups.
 
Where does it get you though?

At best you can conclude that there's far greater ongoing global interest in the fate of (possibly) living people trapped beneath the ocean and the attempts to rescue them, than there is about the fates of a significantly greater number of migrants who died the day before. When you add in the extras that Maomao mentioned regarding the hubris, incompetence etc., that's wholly unsurprising.

Even here on U75, there's a 47 page thread about Titan, but there isn't one specifically about the Greek migrant disaster.
That's an interesting question, Spy.
As I keep saying, I do understand the media and our own interest in the small sub story but, let's face it, there'll likely never be another such thread on Urban, whilst our concerns for migrants on boats will doubtless fill countless posts over the next years.

But, that said, the almost simultaneous nature of the events (small sub & Greek sinking) do give us opportunity to highlight the deficiency of coverage of the latter type events in much of the MSM, with the honourable exception of C4News whose coverage of the boat tragedy was good.

I'm not sure why those on here that are interested in the sub story would take any exception to those wanting to use the coverage to expose the hypocrisy of capital's media.
 
I think, unfortunately, it's far more about novelty than anything else.

Submarine accidents next to the Titanic aren't exactly everyday occurrences, but deathtrap boats with hundreds of people on board fleeing poverty, starvation and war, that sink and everyone on board dies - that's (disgustingly) something that happens every week.

One is a buttercup in a field of buttercups, one is an orchid in a field of buttercups.
Yes, an orchid that will flower, wither and die quickly in the field of buttercups that will persist.

Doesn't stop me being sickened by the reported sadness about the orchid of politicians like Cleverly who ignore the buttercups and, in many senses, ensure their repeated 'flowering'.
 
Back
Top Bottom