The ocean’s depths are so elusive that only 20% of the seafloor has been mapped

The chances of future research being carried out at the Titanic wreck have diminished after the Titan sub went missing on its journey to the site, an expert has said.

David Scott-Beddard, the CEO of Titanic exhibition company White Star Memories Ltd, told CNN that the tragedy has “without a doubt” impacted opportunities to visit and study the wreckage.

“The chances of any future research being carried out on the wreck of Titanic is extremely slim. Probably not in my lifetime,” Scott-Beddard told CNN’s “Early Start.”

Concerns have been raised about the low-tech and controversial features of theOceanGate vessel. A former OceanGate subcontractor who worked on the development of the submersible Titan has said some of the construction materials and design choices were considered “controversial” at the time it was being made in 2018.

Enduring appeal:Several research trips were made to the Titanic site after it was discovered in 1985, and many of its artifacts have been controversially recovered and displayed around the world since. But commercial trips like those offered by OceanGate are a far more recent phenomenon.

“Titanic is one of those unreachable, unattainable things for most of us, unless you’ve been working in research and have been lucky enough to dive to the wreck in the past,” Scott-Beddard said, explaining the enduring appeal of the ship. “She sits majestically on the sea bed; (it’s) incredibly rare for a ship that sunk to be sitting upright.”

former OceanGate subcontractor who worked on the development of the submersible Titan says some of the construction materials and design choices were considered “controversial” at the time it was being made in 2018.

Doug Virnig, who has a background in engineering and operations, worked on the project for about a year in an operations role, he told CNN in an interview Wednesday. 

He expressed admiration for OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, who he interacted with at work while fabricating parts for the vessel together.

“He would stop and talk and ask what we were doing, and he would move stuff around and… he loved to tinker,” he said.

Pressure tests:The company was working on making a submersible that could fit five people but still be lightweight, and used experimental methods with certain technology, Virnig said.

One example he cited was the pressure hull on the Titan, which was made primarily out of carbon fiber, which contains light, high tensile material, he said.  

“If you have them in a conventional application like an airplane fuselage where they’re under tension, that is a conventional and known application for that material, but under compression, the forces are exactly opposite,” Virnig said.

“So that’s a fairly experimental or unconventional application for that material.”

Virnig said Titan’s pressure hull had passed tests at the non-profit Woods Hole Institute, which subjected it to the pressure found at the depth of the Titanic wreck — but the question was how it would perform over time. 

• “Well, if you do that repeatedly, then what happens?” he said.
• “So these are the sorts of questions that if you have a long research and development program, you start answering. But if you really are pushing the envelope, there’s no time to — you’re answering those questions in real time.”
• No conning tower:Another controversial choice was not using a conning tower, which is used to get in and out of the pressure hull from the top of the vessel and is frequently used on submarines, Virnig said. But due to the decision to utilize the carbon fiber pressure hull it prevented OceanGate from including the tower, he said.

• “Now, other submersibles do not have conning towers,” he said. “But — it’s a very controversial point because you have to get the entire submersible out of the water to be able to open up the door to access the interior.”