Lightning strikes push Titanic mission to 2019
2G Robotics to help scan infamous wreck
WATERLOO — It’s been more than a century since the unsinkable RMS Titanic hit an iceberg and sank to the bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean, and a Waterloo tech firm will have to wait one more year before it can dive down to examine the wreck.
2G Robotics was supposed to be part of an expedition this summer with an American diving company to document the infamous ship and its debris field, but an intense lightning storm over the Bahamas in late April zapped the sub with enough electrostatic energy to damage more than 70 per cent of the on-board electronics.
The entire mission was pushed back to 2019, and while it is disappointed, 2G says it isn’t unusual to face delays in the underwater exploration business.
“It sounds drastic, and it is longer than we’re accustomed to, but for people in the industry it’s pretty common,” Kelci Martinsen, a spokesperson for 2G and maritime archeology expert, said of the delay. Just last year, 2G had a crew working in Angola for what was supposed to be one week but delays stretched it into a month-long project, Martinsen said.
2G, founded in 2007 by University of Waterloo grad Jason Gillham, specializes in generating true-scale 3D laser models of underwater wrecks as well as oil and gas infrastructure, with accuracy down to the millimetre. Once the scan of the Titanic is complete, it will be the most detailed analysis of the ship wreck to date.
The purpose of the expedition was to create a baseline laser reading of ship measurements and dimensions, as well as scan the 5.2-square-kilometre debris field, so future dives can better assess just how quickly the site is changing and deteriorating. Current estimates suggest the ship could disappear by 2030.
The delay is almost welcome though, as 2G recently moved into a new facility on Randall Drive in Waterloo, and it’s been a hectic few months as the company moves equipment and staff into its new space, Martinsen said.
The five-person submersible at the heart of the mission is owned and operated by OceanGate Inc., a private firm based in Everett, Wash., that specializes in submersible dives for industry and exploration. They were in the
Bahamas conducting test dives when an intense, weeklong storm in late April delivered thousands of lightning strikes to the region.
Joel Perry, president of OceanGate Expeditions, said the sub — named Titan — was loaded on a steel trailer and out of the water at the time of the storm. It wasn’t directly struck by lightning, but the sheer amount of electrostatic discharge in the air and on the ground fried many of the sub’s hard-wired electronics. The 2G laser scanner was not hooked up at the time and was not damaged, the company said.
The sub was repaired fairly easily, but the lightning strikes combined with uncharacteristically stormy and windy conditions in the region delayed their test dives and meant they couldn’t hit their goal of reaching a 4,000-metre dive depth at least 45 days before the expedition was to start in June.
“Yes, there is some disappointment, but we dive and conduct expeditions when it’s safe and when we’re ready,” Perry said.
The Titanic is about 3.7 kilometres below the surface of the ocean and there are few submersibles in the world capable of delivering humans to that depth safely. Fewer than 200 people are believed to have ever visited the wreck, and OceanGate was planning 18 dives this year.
The wreck was discovered on Sept. 1, 1985, by explorer Robert Ballard, and the ship is protected by the 2001 UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage, meaning all states that are part of the convention agree to prohibit the pillaging, commercial exploitation, sale or dispersion of the wreck and its artifacts.
More than 1,500 of the estimated 2,224 passengers and crew on board died in the icy North Atlantic waters about 600 kilometres from Newfoundland after the 269-metre long vessel struck an iceberg at 11:40 p.m. on April 14, 1912, and sank two hours and 40 minutes later. There were only enough lifeboats on board for about half of the passengers.
To help fund the expedition, OceanGate sold seats for $105,129 per person — which, allowing for
inflation, is roughly equal to the $4,350 travellers paid for a firstclass ticket on the ship’s maiden voyage.
These “mission specialists” will be aboard the expedition ship for seven days and have the opportunity to dive to the wreck. Perry said all of the clients who bought a seat for the dive in 2018 are willing to wait it out one more year.
It’s the first time OceanGate has had an expedition delayed by such a lightning event.
“Even if the trailer had been attached to a truck at the time, the rubber tires likely would have insulated it,” Perry said.
The submersible has a carbon fibre hull with titanium ends.
Since Titanic has been underwater for 106 years, Perry doesn’t expect a whole lot to change over the next 12 months, but you can never be sure, he said. It’s been 13 years since humans have travelled to the wreck, and seven years since even a remote camera has laid eyes on the ship, meaning they’re not quite sure what to expect once they do get down there.
“Our hope is to go every year, but that depends on the need and on funding.”