But on the way back up,something went wrong. The rear of the submersible pitched upwards while the nose pointed down. The condensation-slick walls tilted. Their sub had been ensnared by a ghost net.
“It was momentarily terrifying,” said Jateff,now the curator of ocean science and technology at the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney.
Ghost nets are fishing nets abandoned by trawlers that wend through the ocean,even at 4000-metre depths. They can be kilometres long and more than large enough to entangle whales.
“They are a serious threat to navigation both above and below the water.”
Ghost nets are just one of the hazards that could have caused the Titan submersible to go missing during its descent to the Titanic wreckage on Sunday night (AEST). The Titan hasn’t regained communication with its surface ship since it disappeared with pilot Stockton Rush and four passengers on board.
While Jateff’s had a taste of how quickly these trips can turn dangerous,after a gut-wrenching few moments,the submersible came unstuck.