Nah was just a Labour Party member not a MP. And yep, like Katie Hopkins just the other end of the scale.
Yeah, probably similar. She's a mouth though so inevitably gets heard, the way the media works these days. And of course, there are some who hang on her every word and some who are outraged by everything she says.
I'm all for innovation, risk taking, new ideas and challenging orthodoxy. But this bloke was not furthering any scientific cause. He had a primitive submersible, made of carbon fibre, the only distinguishing feature of which was that it was designed so that you needed to be bolted into it from the outside. A quite mad feature. He was in it for money. Fair enough, but not when you are blatantly and obviously risking people's lives. A lot of lives have been ruined by his hubris.
Brought a tear to my eye when Ricky Tomlinson was saying how he want to jail after making a stand against poor health and safety. Two and three lads a week getting killed on building sites from falling brinks because they had no helmets on.
Like everyone else, I've followed this over the last week and it's a simple breakdown summary imo CEO wanting to be clever and build something that went against every maritime and basic engineering law and rule. Ignored every single warning from engineers to the point resigned stating he wanted nothing to do with it including experts in that community. People with money to burn took the chance to go and see something very few will have the chance to see, ego or an experience that needed to be taken? A 6th member of the party took one look and said he wasn't going in it and wanted his money back. 5 lives sadly lost for no reason at all. There's nothing heroic about it and it certainly wasn't "exploration". Total and utter waste of live that now leaves more questions than answers.
There has to be a balance with anything like this whether it's land, sea or air. If FellTop goes missing on Ben Nevis there's a rescue procedure that's been established for decades. It's there because 150,000 people climb it every year with only two or three deaths so as safe as staying home doing DIY. The rescue cost is nothing when compared to the huge amount brought in by the associated tourism, jobs, etc. Those on the rescue teams are fellow climbers who know the mountain blindfold. This submarine escapade could never be worth the risk of having a dozen boats, and various aircraft, searching for days in hostile conditions. The risk to human life was significant and the cost enormous. There was no rescue procedure, the owners just expected the Canadian/US Navy, and air forces the coastguards, private vessels,etc to jump when they snapped their fingers. There's no balance of worth against consequences .... ... it was a jaunt and not worth doing, you can see what they might see, in a few seconds, by Googling 'Titanic'. Edit: Seven seconds as it turns out.
Been reading a bit about this and it appears that the sub used a bit of a loophole around international waters etc to avoid / not have to submit to as much scrutiny as it would have needed if it sailed under a US flag. That alone sets alarm bells, let alone the apparent weight of evidence that is building showing that an awful lot of experts had warned it was a major accident waiting to happen.
Yep. And the question for the Canadian authorities will be why were you so happy with such a vessel operating from your jurisdiction? I wouldn't like to be the one answering that question if a hungry, well paid legal team starts asking it.
This is speculation on my part but I doubt I'll be far wrong. The company are finished and wouldn't have sufficient assets to make litigation worthwhile, they wouldn't get much for their equipment, intellectual property or expertise that's for sure. It's inevitable that they'll try to use the passenger liability waiver and it's just possible they'd win, although I doubt it tbh. The legal team/teams will go after Canada or the USA or both who they know can handle a multimillion dollar claim and don't have any form of contract/waiver with the passengers.The families will have all of the public sympathy and it can't be shown that they were in any way culpable. The state won't have any credible defence to the question, 'Did you knowingly allow someone to construct an experimental submarine with which they took the public to the bottom of the Atlantic?' They can't exactly say 'A bigger buoy told me to do it.'
Yep. That looks possible to me. It might depend on whether the families of those killed have the stomach for such a fight. Certainly they'll have the cash, and there'll be no shortage of genuinely hot shot lawyers ready to go at it. Awful thing man. Vanity gone mad and all that, but it was their money to spend, though your heart goes out to the young lad who it seems went against his instincts. The company though, or more likely those other remaining people involved, are in for a deserved hard time.
Top post. I was talking to my good lady last night and reminded her about the Ben Nevis trip. I said that to be honest because I basically ignored the safety advice on the day, although I was with 2 lads who had been up big Nepal peaks several times, I probably shouldnt have expected others to risk their lives rescuing me. In reality though you are spot on, it is a really popular activity, even in winter, and rescue procedures are tried and tested. In this case the deepest ever rescue previously of a sub is about 1k down. Rescues of deep subs just arent really possible. I think my overall sense is they chose to go. I tend to think some will have been crystal clear on the risks, the french lad and the english billionaire I am sure. I would like to think if they could say one last thing it would be dont blame anyone but me, my choice. I am not absolving the owner, but it does seem he was well known and well criticised in advance. I still reckon I would go, given the chance mind. Sounds bloody stupid I know, but I think I would, certainly on the sub Cameron goes on.
It took me a while but I think I've found you https://www.scottishdailyexpress.co...n=continue_reading_button#amp-readmore-target
Looks like the Canadians are looking at the option of criminal proceedings, tricky one that lads tbh. "Canadian research ship the Polar Prince, which lost contact with the Titan submersible Sunday, returned to Newfoundland on Saturday with flags at half mast and was met by investigators with the Transportation Safety Board of Canada and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police" So this is a safety board set up by the state, to ensure maximum safety in transport, including marine travel. It sits back and allows someone to build a homemade submarine, for highly paid tourist trips, which was criticised by marine experts, including their own employees, year after year. The safety issues, breakdowns, communication losses, etc, were widely reported. Yet the safety board alowed the owner to ask people to sign extensive waivers and take them to the bottom of the Atlantic ocean. Oops. https://www.insider.com/investigato...itan-submersible-oceangate-titanic-2023-6?amp
I'm sure there will be mate. There are two incredibly wealthy families and a contract not worth the paper it's written on ... ... once they start digging lots more will come out, this is just the tip of the iceberg.
