For days the world has been following the story of the OceanGate Titan, the submersible that went missing on Sunday on a journey to view the wreckage of the Titanic. Debris from the vehicle was discovered yesterday, the result of a catastrophic implosion that killed all five passengers on board.
Many experts have been weighing in on this tragedy, and few people know the thrills and risks of deep-sea exploration like Oscar-winning director James Cameron. Not only did he direct the hit 1997 film Titanic, he is an avid ocean explorer — and has made 33 trips to see the Titanic’s wreckage.
Now, Cameron is opening up about about his feelings on this catastrophe — and reveals why he wouldn’t have boarded the Titan.
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If you’ve seen many James Cameron films, you know that he’s obsessed with both cutting-edge technologies and taking viewers to unseen worlds, from outer space to the deepest depths of the ocean. This comes from Cameron’s real-life spirit of adventure.
“When I was a kid, I loved not only amazing ocean exploration but space, too,” Cameron told the New York Times in 2011. “I can think of no greater fantasy than to be an explorer and see what no human eye has seen before.”
Cameron has had quite a career as an explorer: in 2012, he became the first person to do a solo descent to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. He has made over 70 submersible dives, including 33 to the wreck of the Titanic on the ocean floor.
So the crisis surrounding the Titan submersible on its way to view the Titanic wreck no doubt hit close to home for Cameron. But Cameron says he had concerns about the safety of the Titan sub, and accused OceanGate of cutting corners in regard to safety…CONTINUE READING