Titan Tragedy Lessons for Proposed Indian Submersible Dive

• 28 Jun 2023

For Prelims: Matsya-6000, Titan submersible, Deep Ocean Mission, RMS Titanic, Atlantic Ocean, NOAA, UNESCO.

For Mains: Deep Ocean Mission and Its Significance for India.

Why in News?

Scientists are preparing for a Deep See Dive with the Vehicle Matsya-6000 in late 2024 similar to the Titan submersible, which recently went missing.

• The Matsya-6000 project under India’s Deep Ocean Mission, scheduled for late 2024, aims to explore the Indian Ocean at a depth of about 6,000 meters.
• In light of the recent incident of Titan Submersible, the safety systems employed for the crew will undergo reviews to ensure their effectiveness.

What are the Key Points of Titan Submersible?

• About:
  • Titan submersible is operated by the privately owned U.S. company OceanGate that organizes underwater expeditions for both research and tourism.
  • It was built with “off-the-shelf” components, is lighter and more cost-efficient than other deep diving submersibles.
  • Titan is made of carbon fibre and titanium and weighs 10,432 kilograms.
  • It is capable of going 4,000 metres undersea and moves as fast as three knots per hour (5.56 kph).

• Objective:
  • Titan Submersible was travelling to see the wreckage of RMS (Royal Mail Ship) Titanic, which is nearly four thousand metres under water in the frigid North Atlantic Ocean.
    • One hour and forty-five minutes into the journey, contact with Titan was lost.
• Concerns:
  • The submersible's forward viewport was certified for 1,300 meters, but OceanGate aimed to reach 4,000 meters.
  • The technology and components of the submersible may not have met rigorous safety standards. Insufficient hull testing raises the risk of failure and endangers occupants.
  • The pressure vessel's combination of titanium and carbon fiber is unusual and raises concerns due to their different properties in deep diving situations.

What Happened to the Titan?

• The submersible “Titan” experienced a “catastrophic implosion,” according to the U.S. Coast Guard. The five occupants on board are presumed to have died during the implosion.
• An implosion is the opposite of an explosion. In an explosion, the force acts outwards, but in an implosion the force acts inwards. When a submersible is deep in the ocean it experiences the force on its surface due to water pressure.
• When this force becomes larger than the force hull can withstand, the vessel implodes violently.
  • With every descent of 10 meters into the water, the pressure increases by approximately one atmosphere.
    • One atmosphere is equivalent to the average atmospheric pressure at sea level, which is approximately 101.325 kilopascals (kPa) or 14.7 pounds per square inch (psi).

What are Carbon Fibres and Titanium?

• Carbon Fibre: Carbon fibre is a polymer that is known to be quite strong despite being lightweight. It can be as much as five times stronger than steel and twice as stiff.
  • A carbon-fibre composite, compared to titanium, is much stiffer and does not have the same kind of elasticity.
• Titanium: Titanium is as strong as steel but around 45% lighter. It is twice as strong as aluminum but only 60% heavier, according to the United States Geological Survey.
  • A titanium or thick steel pressure vessel is usually a spherical shape that can withstand the crushing pressures at 3,800m – the depth at which the Titanic wreck lies.
  • Titanium is elastic and can adapt to an extended range of stresses without any measurable permanent strain remaining after the return to atmospheric pressure. It shrinks to adjust to pressure forces and re-expands as these forces are alleviated.

Submarine Vs Submersible

• While the two categories can overlap, a submarine refers to an underwater vehicle that is largely independent and has power reserves to help it depart from a port or come back to the port after an expedition.
• Meanwhile, a submersible is generally smaller in size and has less power, so it needs to work with a ship in order to be launched and recovered.
  • The missing submersible Titan was working with a vessel named Polar Prince.

What are the Key Points Related to Matsya-6000?

• About:
  • Matsya-6000 is an indigenous deep-sea dive submersible being developed by the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) in India. It is designed to explore the depths of the Indian Ocean at a depth of about 6,000 meters.
  • The mission aims to send three Indian navigators to a point approximately 1,500 km away from Kanyakumari, India.
• Objective:
  • The mission's primary objective is to support India's energy requirements and explore ocean resources.
  • India aims to conduct exploratory mining for Polymetallic Nodules containing valuable resources such as copper, nickel, cobalt, and manganese.
  • This endeavor aligns with the Indian government's Deep Ocean Mission, which aims to develop vehicles and technology for ocean scanning and mining.
• Features of Submersible:
  • The submersible features a spherical titanium hull, which is crucial for withstanding the immense pressure at great depths.
    • The titanium hull is manufactured by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), as no commercial fabricators in India were capable of producing such a hull.
  • Two hemispheres of titanium alloy are fused to create a single hull, which serves as the primary barrier between the crew and the surrounding water columns.
• Learning from Titan Incident:
  • The recent incident has highlighted the need for thorough safety evaluations and repeated testing.
  • The inability to locate the submersible despite multiple communication systems onboard raises questions. Future submersibles may incorporate "black box" equivalents, similar to those found in aircraft, to aid in investigating the cause of such incidents.
  • The choice of titanium for the submersible's enclosure, the utilization of syntactic foam, and the implementation of acoustic communication and tracking systems should be thoroughly evaluated.

UPSC Civil Services Examination, Previous Year Question

Q. Ilmenite and rutile, abundantly available in certain coastal tracts of India, are rich sources of which one of the following? (2023)

(a) Aluminium
(b) Copper
(c) Iron
(d) Titanium 

Ans: (d)

Exp:

• India is endowed with large resources of heavy minerals which occur mainly along coastal stretches of the country.
• Heavy mineral sands comprise a group of seven minerals, viz, ilmenite, leucoxene (brown ilmenite), rutile, zircon, sillimanite, garnet and monazite. Ilmenite (FeO.TiO₂) and rutile (TiO₂) are the two chief mineral sources of titanium. Hence, option (d) is correct.

Source: TH