Connect with us

World

After Titanic sub disaster, industry faces scrutiny

Published

on

After Titanic sub disaster, industry faces scrutiny

The first fatal accident aboard a deep-sea tourist submersible is certain to raise calls for additional safety regulations, but industry experts say any new measures may be impossible to enforce given the international nature of the business.

Moreover, they say the tragedy of the Titan submersible that imploded during its expedition to the wreckage of the Titanic was an outlier, given that the maker of the vessel opted against certifying the vessel, defying industry convention.

All five people aboard the Titan, made by OceanGate Inc of Everett, Washington, were killed in an incident that launched a multinational search and captured the world’s attention.

Industry experts say they were the first known fatalities in more than 60 years of civilian deep-sea submergence.
But even as industry leaders braced for increased scrutiny, they said it was difficult to forecast what sort of changes may come.

Advertisement

In the high seas where the Titan and other submersibles operate, there are no regulations and there is no government that controls international waters.

Movie director James Cameron, who became a deep-sea explorer in the 1990s while researching and making his Oscar-winning blockbuster “Titanic” and is part owner of Triton Submarines, said he would support regulation to require certification of vessels, but it would have to be passed in every country where submersibles operated.

“If it’s taking passengers, whether they’re science observers or citizen explorers, it should be certified,” said Cameron, who is part of the small and close-knit submersible community, or Manned Underwater Vehicle (MUV) industry.

OceanGate has not addressed queries about its decision to forgo certification from industry third parties such as the American Bureau of Shipping or the European company DNV.

Of roughly 10 submersibles that exist in the world and are capable of diving to the depth of the Titanic – nearly 4,000 meters below the surface – only OceanGate’s Titan was uncertified, said Will Kohnen, chairman of peer-review group Marine Technology Society’s (MTS) committee on manned submersibles.

Advertisement

Most tourist submersibles explore coral reefs and other natural phenomenon at 500 meters or less.

In 2018, Kohnen authored a letter warning OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush that forgoing third-party certification for the Titan could result in a “catastrophic” outcome. Rush, the pilot of the Titan, was killed it the implosion.

U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger said that the Titan had imploded that “questions about the regulations that apply and the standards – that’s going to be, I’m sure, a focus of future review.”

Ofer Ketter, the president of SubMerge, a submersibles consulting and operations company based out of Costa Rica, said he had reassured clients that what happened to the Titan was unlikely to take place in the more hospitable depths that most private submersibles explored.

He said regulators could now focus on operations – how and when such vessels dive – but that no governments currently regulated the manufacture of private submersibles.

Advertisement

While acknowledging the loss of life aboard the Titan, Ketter said “the facts are the facts” when it came to the experimental path OceanGate chose to take.

“Professionals in this industry are sitting at home right now and holding their heads, and saying to themselves, ’What a mess, how do we explain this to the world, how do we differentiate between what most of us do and what OceanGate did?” Ketter said.

Justin Manley, president of Marine Technology Society, said the OceanGate incident could lead to increased oversight, but that “the high seas are inherently not regulated.”

Dives in international waters, where no country can impose its law, would remain unaffected.
“It’s not that the regulations would be irrelevant, but they probably wouldn’t be the biggest forcing function on the industry,” Manley said.

Advertisement

World

Estonia summons Russian embassy chief over GPS jamming

Estonia summons Russian embassy chief over GPS jamming

Published

on

By

Estonia summons Russian embassy chief over GPS jamming

Estonia’s foreign ministry has summoned the head of the Russian embassy in Tallinn to protest the jamming of GPS signals, the Baltic country said on Wednesday.

Estonia accuses neighbouring Russia of violating international regulations by disturbing GPS navigation in airspace above the Baltic states, echoing concerns from airlines that say they have contended with such interference for months.

The Estonian foreign ministry on Wednesday summoned Russia’s charge d’affaires to convey its message. Moscow and Tallinn last year expelled each other’s ambassadors as relations deteriorated in the wake of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

“Jamming the GPS signal is an element of Russia’s hybrid activities, disrupting everyday life and threatening the security of allies,” Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said in a statement.

Advertisement

Russia’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

GPS, short for Global Positioning System, is a network of satellites and receiving devices used for positioning, navigation and timing on Earth in everything from ships and planes to cars.

The jamming of GPS signals can be disruptive to commercial airliners but they can usually navigate by other means.

Finnish carrier Finnair last month said it would pause all flights to Tartu in Estonia to allow the local airport to upgrade its navigation system, which has so far relied only on GPS.

Advertisement
Continue Reading

World

Australia boosts funds to Taiwan-ally Tuvalu amid Pacific contest for influence with China

Australia boosts funds to Taiwan-ally Tuvalu amid Pacific contest for influence with China

Published

on

By

Australia boosts funds to Taiwan-ally Tuvalu amid Pacific contest for influence with China

Australia will quadruple its financial assistance to Tuvalu, a Pacific Island nation at risk from rising seas, to cement a landmark climate migration and security deal as China also courts small island states.

On a visit to Tuvalu, foreign minister Penny Wong said on Wednesday evening Australia has committed A$110 million ($72.27 million) in its national budget to Tuvalu.

The sum includes A$50 million ($32.85 million) to build the first undersea cable connecting the island’s residents to global telecommunications services, and A$19 million for a land reclamation project to fortify Tuvalu’s coastline from rising seas.

Another A$15 million will be spent on a national security coordination centre, as well as A$10 million in direct budget support.

Advertisement

The funding is a significant boost on the A$17 million ($11.17 million) Australia provided to Tuvalu in 2023-24.

China’s ambitions for a greater security presence in the Pacific became an election issue in Tuvalu in January, as two leadership contenders said Tuvalu should consider switching ties from Taiwan to Beijing for more funds, and revise a new security pact with Australia.

Neighbour Nauru cut ties with Taiwan a fortnight before Tuvalu’s vote, after China built a port and promised more aid.

Tuvalu’s new prime minister Feleti Teo pledged to stick with Taiwan, and to ratify the Falepili Union signed with Australia in November. The treaty allows Tuvalu citizens to migrate to Australia for work or study, while recognising Tuvalu continues to exist despite the rising sea levels.

“Australia has provided a security guarantee to support Tuvalu in a humanitarian disaster, a pandemic or the event of attack,” Wong said in a speech on Wednesday evening.

Advertisement

“It is also the first time in history that two nations have agreed in a legally binding instrument that statehood endures in the face of sea level rise,” she added.

The treaty allows Australia to vet Tuvalu’s deals with third countries in a broad range of security areas from ports to telecommunications.

On Thursday, Wong and Teo are expected to say that the security cooperation does not limit Tuvalu’s ability to enter into diplomatic agreements with other nations, according to an advance copy of a joint statement viewed by Reuters.

“We recognise that the people of Tuvalu deserve the choice to live, study and work elsewhere, as climate change impacts intensify at home,” the text of the statement reads.

Advertisement
Continue Reading

World

Probe launched after Boeing cargo plane lands in Istanbul without front landing gear

Probe launched after Boeing cargo plane lands in Istanbul without front landing gear

Published

on

By

Probe launched after Boeing cargo plane lands in Istanbul without front landing gear

A FedEx Airlines Boeing cargo plane landed at Istanbul Airport on Wednesday without its front landing gear, a Turkish Transport Ministry official said, adding there were no casualties and authorities had launched an investigation.

The aircraft, flying from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, informed the control tower in Istanbul that its landing gear had failed to open and touched down with guidance from the tower, managing to remain on the runway, a ministry statement said.

Airport rescue and fire fighting teams were scrambled before landing, but no one was injured. The ministry gave no reason for the failure.

The aircraft involved is a nearly 10-year-old Boeing 767 freighter, one of the most common cargo planes and based on the 767 passenger model dating back to the 1980s.

Advertisement

An official from Turkey’s transport ministry said its teams were conducting examinations at the scene as part of the ongoing investigation, but did not provide further details.

Boeing referred queries to FedEX, which said in a statement it was coordinating with investigation authorities and would “provide additional information as it is available”.

Video footage obtained by Reuters showed sparks flying and some smoke as the front of the plane scraped along the runway before coming to a halt and being doused with firefighting foam. No fire appeared to have broken out.

The video showed the pilots holding the plane’s nose above the runway for several seconds after the main wheels had touched the ground, apparently executing the emergency drill for landing with a retracted nose gear that pilots train for, according to the SKYbrary aviation database.

In June last year, a small 22-year-old Boeing 717 flown by Delta Airlines made a similar smooth landing without a nose gear in Charlotte, North Carolina, in an incident later blamed on a fractured component.

The runway was temporarily closed to air traffic, but other runways at Istanbul airport were still operating normally, the airport operator IGA said.

Advertisement

Manufacturers are not typically involved in the operation or maintenance of jets once they enter service, but Boeing has been under intense media and regulatory scrutiny following a series of incidents on its smaller 737.

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © GLOBAL TIMES PAKISTAN