James Cameron says submarine catastrophe reminds him of Titanic sinking
Director James Cameron says he’s “struck by the similarity” of the Titan submersible tragedy and the sinking of the Titanic in 1912.
Cameron mentioned many within the deep submergence engineering neighborhood had been “deeply concerned” concerning the OceanGate Expeditions craft. It comes after it was reported lacking on Sunday.
The Hollywood star, who directed the 1997 Oscar-winning movie Titanic, has designed and constructed related submersibles. Cameron visited the wreckage of the well-known ocean liner 33 instances.
OceanGate introduced on Thursday that the pilot and 4 passengers of the lacking Titan submersible have been believed to be lifeless.
READ MORE: Titanic sub adventurer Hamish Harding’s family pay tribute to ‘dedicated father’
The tail cone was discovered round 1,600ft from the bow of the Titanic, which sank within the North Atlantic Ocean in 1912.
Speaking to ABC News about submersible engineering, Cameron mentioned: “This is a mature art and many people in the community were very concerned about the sub.
“A number of the top players in the deep submergence engineering community even wrote letters to the company, saying that what they were doing was too experimental to carry passengers and they needed to be certified.
“So I’m struck by the similarity of the Titanic disaster itself, where the captain was repeatedly warned about ice ahead of his ship, and yet he steamed at full speed into an ice field on a moonless night and many people died as a result.
“For a very similar tragedy where warnings went unheeded to take place at the same exact site, with all the diving that’s going on all around the world – I think it’s just astonishing.”
Those on board Titan included OceanGate chief govt Stockton Rush, together with UK residents Hamish Harding, Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman Dawood and French nationwide Paul-Henri Nargeolet.
Cameron mentioned the lack of Mr Nargeolet, who he described as a “legendary submersible dive pilot” and a pal of 25 years, was “surreal”.
“For him to have died tragically in this way is almost impossible for me to process,” the director informed ABC.