In the header image, the interesting gray-bar informational panel placed on the wreck caught my eye. I wonder what it's for?
I assume it's to calibrate scale and color for the underwater photography equipment, but would be interested to learn more from someone who knows for certain.
The NPS has a few different ones for paleontology, underwater archaeology, etc.
Olympic was the first of this trio, was damaged and retired in 1935 and some artifacts from it is in White Swan Hotel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Swan_Hotel,_Alnwick#Gall...
Belfast is a really easy city to get around. The airport is very close to the centre and there are cheap regular flights from the UK.
belorn•4mo ago
throwup238•4mo ago
belorn•4mo ago
I do not know many people who would rent a rebreather, as those tend to become fairly personal to the diver when doing that kind of dives, and the required dive training is based on specific brands and units.
avar•4mo ago
I'm aware of the ultimate reasons for those sanctions, but it seems weird in this narrow context to say it's "because of Russia". No, it's expensive because of the EU, which decided to make it expensive, unilaterally.
1. https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/qanda_...
belorn•4mo ago
In combination, US military decided to sell a large portion of their stored helium to a single private firm around the same time, rather then sell it off in smaller chunks, and that seems to also have decreased the global supply.
As a semi-new idea people are experimenting with hydrogen as a replacement for helium, which could become much cheaper and renewable compared to helium. Time will tell how bad idea it is to mix high pressure, oxygen and hydrogen while under water.
avar•4mo ago
I don't see why you're insisting on this passive and inaccurate description.
Someone unfamiliar with this might infer that Russia considered Helium a strategic asset and forbade its export, when the reality is that to the extent that your initial claim is in any way relevant to Helium prices, it's the other way around: The EU forbade the import of Russian helium.
manarth•4mo ago
CCRs are a specialist apparatus, and CCR certification is against a particular model or family of rebreathers – e.g. Buddy Inspiration/Evolution, Kiss Sidekick, Kiss Spirit, etc. Unlike open-circuit scuba certification, there isn't a generic "CCR certification".
Anyone intending (and qualified) to dive to 100m+ on a rebreather will certainly want to do it on their own equipment.
bombcar•4mo ago
Of the fees alone are $6k that’s moderately high but not unreasonable.
bowmessage•4mo ago
What a strange concept, owner of a shipwreck... But, indeed, TFA links to a Q&A with the British owner who purchased the wreck in 1996:
https://thehistorypress.co.uk/article/qa-with-simon-mills-ow...
lesuorac•4mo ago
If I own a ship on land I have to pay property taxes but if I just sink it to the bottom of the ocean I have people pay me!
Maritime laws just seem overly weird though. If I lost a car in the woods then after 100 years it seems pretty reasonable that any scrapper could take it and salvage what they want ...
pessimizer•4mo ago
privatelypublic•4mo ago
ttfvjktesd•4mo ago
There were less people non-commercial diving below 100m, than people reaching the top of the everest. If someone has Britannic on his list, then he's ether an extremely talented very serious technical diver with 500+ logged dives or it's just a pipe dream.