MOSCOW, June 20 Causes of «disappearance» in the Atlantic Ocean during an excursion to the wreckage of the Titanic, the bathyscaphe may have a malfunction in the air ballast system and features of the bottom topography that prevent it from surfacing, believes Mikhail Faleev, former deputy head of the Russian Emergencies Ministry, laureate of the Russian government award in the field of science and technology.
“In my opinion, two reasons can be considered that the bathyscaphe remained at the bottom. The first is a malfunction in the ballast air displacement system, which makes it impossible to ascend, makes it impossible to create positive buoyancy. And the second is that the device sank to the wrong place , so to speak: either the relief somehow prevents its ascent, or some rather massive wreckage («Titanic»), among which it turned out to be,» Faleev noted. He emphasized that the horizontal control capabilities of such bathyscaphes are limited, «so it is very difficult for him to maneuver, and he is forced to stay at the bottom.»
Earlier Monday, OceanGate Expeditions confirmed the disappearance of its crewed bathyscaphe, designed to deliver tourists to the site of the sinking of the Titanic passenger liner. According to the Northeast Division of the US Coast Guard, there are five people on the submersible, contact with them was lost approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes after the dive on Sunday. In total, the bathyscaphe can provide the people in it with air for 96 hours.
As Sky News reported, a 10-day trip to the wreckage of the Titanic, which lies at a depth of 3.8 kilometers, 600 kilometers from the coast of Canadian Newfoundland, costs about 250 thousand dollars.
The wreckage of the Titanic, which sank on April 10, 1912 after colliding with an iceberg, was found only in 1985. In total, 2,224 people were on board the liner, making its first flight from English Southampton to New York, 1,513 of them died.