To get an idea of what it’s like inside an underwater submersible, we come to an industrial estate in the Dutch town of Breda.
This is the home of U-Boat Worx, which makes a range of submersibles.
Most of them are bought by private yacht owners to use for their own projects, but plenty are used for research and exploration.
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None of them go as deep as the wreckage of the Titanic; they’re not designed for those depths.
But in front of us is the Cruise Sub-7, a seven-person submersible that’s got roughly the same dimensions as the missing Titan vessel.
One difference is immediately obvious. At the front and back of this machine is a large acrylic window that allows a wide view of the outside world.
The Titan is different, with a very limited view through a single porthole.
I climb a flight of steps to reach the top of the submersible, then go down four steps of a ladder into the sub itself.
Three things strike you straight away – the light that comes in through the windows; the sophisticated instrument panel and the small size.
The light will have gone even by the time you get to a depth of 300m (980ft) – it’s dark at that depth.
But the sub has powerful exterior lights and that would ease the sense of claustrophobia.
A Cruise Sub-7
The stricken Titan. Pic: file
On the Titan, you don’t have that – it must feel much more as if you are trapped in a box.
The instrument panel is another key difference – the Titan, as everyone now knows, is partly manipulated by an old Playstation controller, and does not have international safety certification.
The Sub-7 is fully certified, and has an array of controls for normal manoeuvres, emergency response and communications with the surface.
All of that provides reassurance. The list of “fail-safe guarantees” in case of problems is long.
But then there’s the size.
You’d only expect to stay on the Sub-7 for an hour or two – eight hours at the most – and I don’t think you’d want to stay longer.
With seven people inside, it would feel cramped.
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There is certainly not enough space to stand up straight and moving around is difficult.
The prospect of being trapped inside a submersible of this size for days on end would be utterly grim.
This story originally appeared on Skynews
