Renowned Hollywood director and deep-sea explorer James Cameron recently spoke out about the striking similarity between the recent sinking of the OceanGate vessel and the sinking of the Titanic over a century ago. Cameron stated that a factor leading to both disasters was overconfident individuals at the helm of the ships. This relates to how the captain of the Titanic ignored warnings of ice ahead and continued at full speed into an ice field on a moonless night. Cameron stated that what’s particularly shocking is how similar the two tragedies were as they both occurred at the same exact site.
Oregon State University’s deep-sea explorer and marine geologist, Chris Goldfinger, made the same observation. He noted that the same type of overconfidence that caused the Titanic to go down was present with the OceanGate as well. Subsequent to the disaster of the Titanic, there were many accidents in the 60s, but there have been drastic improvements in safety since then. Even though safety standards of deep submergence vessels have improved significantly, many people, including top players in the field, had reservations regarding the Titan’s experimental sub.
OceanGate suffered a huge blow when the Titan imploded, leading to the death of five people, including the highly experienced French deep-sea explorer, Paul-Henri Nargeolet. Famously, Cameron, who has visited and inspected the Titanic wreckage 33 times, has designed and piloted his own vessel to dive into the ocean’s deepest parts. He, therefore, understands the engineering challenges associated with such a vehicle’s construction, and the required safety protocols that must be enforced. He added that submergence diving is a mature art, and the safety record of such vessels is the gold standard.
Cameron hinted that Titans’ carbon fiber construction was fundamentally flawed, leading to the disaster. The message here is that deep submergence diving is not something to experiment with, and additional certification is required to carry passengers. Placing any occupant in such vehicles should not be taken lightly, as it involves their utmost safety.
The reason for exploring the depths of the ocean and travelling to the bottom of the sea is to learn more about the earth’s makeup. Without losing human lives or endangering them, it can be done through the right safety protocols. As individuals, we all have our journeys to complete; the most important aspect is doing them safely.
