An extensive search is being conducted to locate a submersible boat that vanished while attempting to reach the Titanic wreck.
The marine company OceanGate Expeditions, which runs the Titan, takes paying tourists and professionals to the well-known wreckage on board the vessel.
What is known about its distinct construction and operation is listed below.
One of the few privately owned manned submersibles in the entire world, it.
The Titan was specifically built by the company to allow visitors to the Titanic wreck, even though OceanGate has also operated a sister submersible called the Cyclops since 2015.
The Titan, according to the company, has two domed titanium end caps and an aerospace-standard five-inch thick carbon fiber hull. It weighs about 23,000 lbs (10,432 kg).
It can descend to depths of up to 4,000 meters (13,123 feet) below sea level, which is much deeper than the USS Dolphin, the deepest-diving US submarine, which once reached a depth of 900 meters.
The Titanic's wreck is located 3,800 meters below the surface for context.
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration claims that because submersibles lack the power reserves of a submarine, they require a separate support vessel that can launch and recover them.
Prior to setting out on its first voyage in 2021, the Titan started sea trials in 2018. It performed ten dives last year, though not all of them were to the Titanic wreck.
The submarine can travel at a speed of about 3 knots (3 mph; 4 km/h) after being separated from its launch and recovery platform.
OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush previously told CBS News that the company can use $1 million worth of fuel in a single journey.
With a crew of just five people—a pilot and four passengers—the sub itself is incredibly small, measuring only 670 cm by 280 cm by 250 cm (22 feet by 9 points two feet by 8 points three feet).
Although it is larger than rivals, passengers are still forced to sit on the floor with little room to move.
According to the company, this porthole is the "largest viewport of any deep-sea manned submersible" and is located at the front of the ship.
As temperatures can drop dramatically at such depths, the sub's walls are also heated. The only lighting on board comes from wall-mounted lamps.
But unusually, there is a customer-only restroom located at the front of the sub. The pilot raises the onboard music as a brief curtain is drawn over the area that is being used.
However, the company's website does recommend "you restrict your diet before and during the dive to reduce the likelihood that you will need to use the facilities".
The ship is outfitted with strong external lights that are used to shed light on the Titanic shipwreck.
An exterior laser scanner and sonar are used to map the ship, and several 4k cameras are also mounted there. While reviewing information gathered on several tablets, the crew can view the wrecked ship on a sizable digital display inside.
The crew's breathing rate will have an impact on the Titan's oxygen reserve, which is estimated to last for 96 hours.
The company acknowledges that many interior components are made up of "off-the-shelf technology," which it claims "helped to streamline the construction, and makes it simple to operate and replace parts in the field.".
When submersibles descend to the depths reached by the Titan, GPS tracking stops working properly.
Instead, a team on the surface vessel above uses a USBL (ultra-short baseline) acoustic system to exchange texts with the sub, which the sub is then directed by.
Using a reinforced video game controller, the pilot onboard pilots the ship in accordance with these instructions.
Last year, Mr. Rush told CBS News that operating the sub "shouldn't require much skill.".
According to reports, the entire dive to the Titanic wreck, including the descent and ascent, takes eight hours.
The Titan was lost at sea for more than two hours before communications were reestablished, however, when CBS correspondent David Pogue traveled on it in 2018.
At such depths, the ocean exerts a tremendous amount of pressure that the Titan must contend with.
The hull of the ship can reportedly be monitored in real time, according to the OceanGate website.
It has sensors that analyze how changing pressure affects the sub as it dives in order to judge the structural integrity.
A support team seals the hatch from the outside and fastens it shut with 17 bolts to lock the crew inside the sub before it starts its dive.
When a CBS reporter traveled onboard OceanGate, they were required to sign a waiver acknowledging that it was an experimental vessel and that it "has not been approved or certified by any regulatory body, and could result in physical injury, disability, emotional trauma, or death.".
Traveling on the sub is "not a ride at Disney, you know," OceanGate Expeditions software security expert Aaron Newman explains to potential customers in a promotional video.
"There's a lot of real risk involved, and there's a lot of challenges," he says.
On its website, OceanGate makes it clear that no prior diving experience is necessary to board the Titan. According to the business, all necessary training is given online prior to departure.
Customers must be at least 18 years old, able to sit in small spaces for long periods of time, and able to climb a six-foot ladder.
According to OceanGate, a safety briefing and a vessel orientation are given to every passenger.
The company then says that "you can choose how you'd like to be involved on the expedition," giving customers the option to work with communications teams or help the pilot with navigation.
