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The Guardian view on danger at sea: The contrast between the frantic hunt for a missing submersible and the failure to save migrants drowning in the Mediterranean is illuminating (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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A massive operation is under way to find and save a stricken vessel and its passengers. As time passes, anxious families and friends wait with growing fear. The US coastguard, Canadian armed forces and commercial vessels are all hunting for the Titan submersible, which has gone missing with five aboard on a dive to the wreck of the Titanic in the north Atlantic. The UK’s Ministry of Defence is also monitoring the situation.

It is hard to think of a starker contrast with the response to a fishing boat which sank in the Mediterranean last week with an estimated 750 people, including children, packed onboard. Only about 100 survived, making this one of the deadliest disasters in the Mediterranean. Greece and the EU blame people smugglers, who overcrowd boats and abuse those aboard them. But both have profound questions to answer about their own role in such disasters. Activists say authorities were repeatedly warned of the danger this boat faced, hours before it went down, but failed to act.

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Don't forget that the CEO also bragged in a video that the sub only has one button, is controlled by a cheap wireless logitech controller and he bought parts of the sub from camping world.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

There's nothing wrong with COTS equipment like the Camping World light that's been made much fun of. The controller either, at least in principle, though the idea of using this battery-powered wireless device specifically is maybe not smart. But the fact that the guy who built it is bragging about them as if he's pulled one over on Big Bathyscaphe should have been a red flag about the quality and safety factors built into the rest of the thing.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yeah, a COTS video game controller makes sense in context (though I'd have opted for a wired version, myself). I'm also pretty sure the US Navy also uses Xbox controllers for their ~~periscopes~~ photonics masts in their subs.

https://www.theverge.com/2018/3/18/17136808/us-navy-uss-colorado-xbox-controller

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The difference is that the Navy uses actual Xbox controllers which are very reliable. The reviews for that logitech model are filled with connection issues, which of course makes people wonder if they were doing any validation testing on the sub at all

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Also the xbox controller is not controlling a critical system. I presume if the submarine loses it's photonic mast it is not dead in the water.