Current:Home > StocksThe missing submersible raises troubling questions for the adventure tourism industry-LoTradeCoin
The missing submersible raises troubling questions for the adventure tourism industry
View Date:2024-12-23 15:34:17
It's been a troubling year for the adventure tourism industry, which offers high-risk travel to customers wealthy enough to afford it, including rocket rides into space, treks to lofty mountain summits, and voyages to the sea floor.
Seventeen people died in 2023 trying to summit Mount Everest in Nepal, and more have needed rescue. Now a massive search is underway in the North Atlantic for a submersible carrying four tourists and a crewmember on a trip to view the wreck of the Titanic.
Critics say this growing sector of the travel industry largely has avoided government oversight, despite a history of accidents and fatalities. For people paying to make trips with a guide or an adventure travel company, it's often buyer beware.
"If you regulate, you're going to kill the sense of adventure, so no regulation was brought," said Alain Grenier, who studies high-risk travel at the University of Quebec in Montreal.
The Titan, the small submersible operated by a Washington state-based company called OceanGate, gives tours primarily in international waters, which means the experimental vessel avoided most U.S. safety rules.
In a 2019 interview with Smithsonian magazine, OceanGate founder and CEO Stockton Rush — currently missing aboard the Titan — complained about government rules.
"There hasn't been an injury in the commercial sub industry in over 35 years. It's obscenely safe, because they have all these regulations," Rush told the magazine. "But it also hasn't innovated or grown — because they have all these regulations."
A for-profit industry with government-funded rescues
Now a massive government response is being led by the U.S. Coast Guard, using vessels, aircraft and remotely operated submersibles, or ROVs.
"There are a lot of pieces of equipment flowing in from St. Johns [in Canada] right now. Some of the ROV capability that's arriving soon is really great," said Coat Guard Capt. Jamie Frederick on Wednesday.
The cost will be born almost entirely by taxpayers. OceanGate required passengers to sign liability waivers, and the company is unlikely to get a bill for this operation.
In a statement posted on Twitter, the company voiced gratitude for "the extensive assistance we have received from several government agencies and deep sea companies."
Vessels from other countries are also involved, as are private ships. NPR asked the Coast Guard for an estimate of the cost of the search and rescue operation but hasn't yet received a response.
Risks and ethical questions for rescuers
Experts say there are also other, hidden costs. The search and rescue operation now underway is happening in a remote area of the North Atlantic, where seas can be rough and visibility limited. That's inherently dangerous.
When commercial adventure trips go wrong, and tourists need emergency aid, first responders often face significant risk.
Dr. Christopher Van Tilburg, an expert in emergency wilderness medicine based in Hood River, Ore., said members of his rescue teams have been injured while searching for lost climbers in the Pacific Northwest.
"It's almost inevitable. I've been on missions where rescuers have been injured. Fortunately, no one catastrophically," he said.
So far there have been no reports of injury among the crews searching for the Titan.
In addition to high profile incidents that involve tour companies, including the vanishing of the Titan, experts say there are also far more travelers taking on high-risk travel alone. Often they lack the experience or the equipment to do it safely.
Scott Van Laer, a former forest ranger in New York state's Adirondack Park, took part in more than 600 backcountry rescues, often involving visitors who were unprepared.
"Most of them are so thankful to receive help, but we have people we had to rescue multiple time for the same lack of preparedness or equipment. So not everybody does get the message," Van Laer said.
Big spenders, big search effort
This massive international response has been mobilized to rescue a handful of wealthy travelers who chose to purchase an extremely risky vacation. Critics say it reveals a stark contrast with the way migrants and refugees are often treated.
"Compare this with the tragedy that happened in Europe with those immigrants who sank, and nobody cared too much," Grenier said.
He referred to an incident last week when a ship sank in the Mediterranean Sea, leaving more than 500 migrants missing. According to Grenier, the search effort and media attention for that disaster were far more modest.
"Now you have the young and famous and the wealthy [aboard the Titan] and I don't think the search effort will stop," he said. "The question is, how far do we go to save people's lives?"
veryGood! (48)
Related
- MLS playoff teams set: Road to MLS Cup continues with conference semifinals
- 5-year-old twin boy and girl found dead in New York City apartment, investigation underway
- Immigration and declines in death cause uptick in US population growth this year
- Khloe Kardashian Is Entering Her Beauty Founder Era With New Fragrance
- Jeep slashes 2025 Grand Cherokee prices
- New York City faulted for delays in getting emergency food aid to struggling families
- Defense secretary to hold meeting on reckless, dangerous attacks by Houthis on commercial ships in Red Sea
- UN Security Council in intense negotiations on Gaza humanitarian resolution, trying to avoid US veto
- Prosecutor failed to show that Musk’s $1M-a-day sweepstakes was an illegal lottery, judge says
- A dress worn by Princess Diana breaks an auction record at nearly $1.15 million
Ranking
- Cold case arrest: Florida man being held in decades-old Massachusetts double murder
- Phony postage stamp discounts are scamming online buyers: What to know
- Snoop Dogg's new smoke-free high: THC and CBD drinks, part of my smoking evolution
- LGBTQ military veterans finally seeing the benefits of honorable discharge originally denied them
- All the Ways Megan Fox Hinted at Her Pregnancy With Machine Gun Kelly
- Judge temporarily halts removal of Confederate Monument at Arlington National Cemetery
- Backup QBs are on display all around the NFL as injury-depleted teams push toward the postseason
- Victoria Beckham's Intimate Video of David Beckham's Workout Will Make You Sweat
Recommendation
-
Research reveals China has built prototype nuclear reactor to power aircraft carrier
-
Georgia man imprisoned for hiding death of Tara Grinstead pleads guilty in unrelated rape cases
-
Morant’s 34 points in stirring season debut lead Grizzlies to 115-113 win over Pelicans
-
13 tons of TGI Friday's brand chicken bites recalled because they may contain plastic
-
'I know how to do math': New Red Lobster CEO says endless shrimp deal is not coming back
-
Minnesota panel chooses new state flag featuring North Star to replace old flag seen as racist
-
'The Color Purple' movie review: A fantastic Fantasia Barrino brings new depth to 2023 film
-
Animal cruelty charges spur calls for official’s resignation in Pennsylvania county