A year after Titan disaster, OceanGate co-founder plans ocean sinkhole trip

The team will attempt to unravel the secrets of Dean's Blue Hole in The Bahamas, while being subjected to an extreme pressure of about 20 times greater than that felt on the surface

About a year after the OceanGate’s Titan disaster that killed five persons, its co-founder Guillermo Sohnlei is planning to take on a new exploration trip to one of the world's deepest underwater sinkholes in The Bahamas.

The expedition titled - Sapphire Abyss - is being carried out by Blue Marble Exploration, a company Sohnlein founded in 2013 after exiting Oceangate, in which he holds a minority stake.

“The next frontier for our team is in the underwater depths of Dean’s Blue Hole,” according to Blue Marble Exploration’s official website.  A tourist attraction in The Bahamas, the site boasts an extreme depth of 202 metres, world’s largest of its kind, it said.

 

Dean’s has a unique “vase” configuration, characterised by a narrow opening near the surface that expands into a significantly wider cavernous chamber below.

What is the Sapphire Abyss mission

According to the website, the expedition crew involves Sohnlei himself and two other people - science team leader Kenny Broad and chief medical officer Scott Parazynski. The website did not share the exact date of the trip, but maintained it would be carried out in 2024.

During the mission, the team will attempt to unravel the secrets of the ocean sinkhole, while being subjected to an extreme pressure of about 20 times greater than that felt on the surface.

Due to the narrow opening near the top of the main chamber, light will not penetrate the lowest points of the cavern, so the team will be operating in complete darkness, it said.

Several legends and myths revolve around the Dean’s blue hole. According to a local belief, Dean’s is viewed as a “portal to hell” where the Devil himself lurks in the black depths.

The mysterious sinkhole is a subject of intrigue for geologist enthusiasts as very little is known about it, including the origin of its formation 15,000 years ago, the website added. 

2023 Titan tragedy

The report about this expedition has become the subject of renewed interest among the public, especially because of its link with OceanGate expeditions. The US-based private firm had launched a trip to visit the Titanic wreckage in deep water off the coast of Canada last June. However, the submersible carrying affluent tourists, which could stay underwater up to 96 hours, went missing about 45 minutes after initiating the mission.

The CEO of OceanGate Stockton Rush was also among the five persons killed in the incident.

An investigation by the US authorities into the incident had revealed that the submersible suffered a “catastrophic implosion” due to immense pressure, instantly killing all five passengers on board.