As terrifying as it sounds, we know more about space than we do about our own oceans. Many attempts have been made to map the ocean floor; some were successful, most were failures – and both endeavours still failed to capture the entirety of the earth’s oceans.
Since humans began to sail the seas, the deep blue has taken so many things from us, the most notable of which was the great Titanic, a luxury cruise liner that sank 111 years ago. However, despite becoming a home for the fish, the now-underwater ship is still a marvel to us, just as it was above water so long ago. It was because of that appeal that 5 people lost their lives recently, trying to get a glimpse of this historical landmark. What is even more unfortunate is that the entire tragedy could have been avoided.
‘The Simpsons’ writer and producer Mike Reiss revealed he went on three trips with OceanGate, including one to see the Titanic wreckage last summer on the submersible.
He details that passengers were required to sign a waiver that mentioned death three times on the first page. pic.twitter.com/cEYppLzV7M
— Pop Base (@PopBase) June 22, 2023
The OceanGate submersible, named ‘Titan’, was set to explore the wreckage of the Titanic. The vessel departed on Saturday, 17th June – but after only 1 hour and 45 minutes, it lost communications and could not be contacted. Authorities were notified later that day when the Titan failed to resurface within the designated time frame.
On Thursday, 22nd June, the worst came to pass when debris from the Titan was spotted approximately 488 metres from the bow of the Titanic. It is believed that the submersible experienced a violent implosion, killing all five passengers aboard, including OceanGate CEO and founder Stockton Rush, British billionaire Hamish Harding, French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet, Pakistani multi-millionaire Shahzada Dawood, and his son Suleman Dawood.
Wall Street Journal reports that a top secret U.S. Navy detection system heard the implosion of the Titan submersible days ago, hours after the craft had begun its journey. pic.twitter.com/MiCNAGmw1F
— Pop Base (@PopBase) June 22, 2023
James Cameron, director of the 1997 film “Titanic”, commented on the shoddy design of the Titan. During the course of his iconic film’s pre-production, Cameron said he conducted extensive research on the sunken vessel and has a record of visiting the ship 33 times just to get the necessary information he needed to make his film a reality. He stated that “There’ve never been fatalities at this kind of depth and certainly no implosions.”
It then came to light how cheaply the Titan was built, how it dodged safety regulations, and how the CEO was quoted as dismissing a 50-year-old ex-military submarine captain for not being inspirational. The Titan was only 22 feet (6.7 metres) long and 9.2 feet (2.74 metres) tall, with a single viewport. Additionally, it was alleged that the viewport was only built to a certified pressure of 1,300 metres, even though the Titan intended to go down 4,000 metres. It’s to be noted that the Titan has gone to the Titanic wreckage several times before, but due to these factors, it was only inevitable that this would occur.
To make matters worse, Rush refused to have the vessel inspected and certified for deep waters, stating that it impeded innovation. Other corners were cut, such as taking an off-the-shelf gamepad as the controls for the submersible among other things.
This feels so wrong pic.twitter.com/SMAKC6sOfH
— David Szymanski (@DUSKdev) June 21, 2023
The internet has taken a much more cynical approach to the matter, as memes are flooding online discourse. Additionally, submarine-based games, such as “Subnautica” and “Iron Lung” received a sudden spike in popularity and sales, with the developer of the latter quoted as saying that it “feels so wrong.”
It’s always unfortunate when a group of people are suddenly killed, even more so when their deaths are used by some as a source of entertainment more than anything else. But it also shows how avoidable this entire tragedy was, if risk and safety came first rather than innovation and clout, perhaps even serving as a reminder for those who decide to bite off more than they can chew.
Source: New York Post, The New York Times [1], [2], CNN [1], [2], [3] NPR, BBC, Insider, CBS News, The Japan Times, Wallpaper Flare
