Acclaimed Titanic film director and deep-sea explorer James Cameron believes that passenger submersibles should be subject to stricter regulations following the OceanGate Titan disaster. Cameron stresses that the exploration industry, in which he works, has a strong safety record due to rigorous safety and testing standards, and he believes that these standards should be maintained. Cameron suggests that passenger submersibles should be treated in the same way as ships that transport passengers, with specific regulations in place. He makes these comments during a presentation in Ottawa alongside his mentor Joseph MacInnis, discussing his own submersible, the Deepsea Challenger, which is currently being exhibited at the Royal Canadian Geographic Society. The Deepsea Challenger underwent seven years of extensive testing, including pressure and disaster response training, before it was used for deep-sea voyages.
Cameron explains that as a filmmaker, he has imagined all the potential issues that could arise, including implosion, and used these scenarios to design and engineer the vessel. He emphasizes the deep submergence community’s excellent safety record, both in exploration and research, with no fatalities, incidents, deaths, or implosions occurring until the OceanGate Titan disaster. The Titan, carrying a crew of tourists on a voyage to the Titanic wreckage, lost contact with its launch vessel, the Polar Prince, around one hour and 45 minutes after descending into the ocean. A search and rescue operation lasting five days discovered a debris field, indicating that the Titan most likely imploded at the time of losing contact, resulting in the deaths of all five people on board, including OceanGate’s CEO Stockton Rush.
Maritime lawyer William Sharpe from Route Law in Toronto explains that regulating submersibles is a complex matter. Submersibles are deployed from ships that navigate the ocean and are subject to the maritime and international laws of their country of origin. However, submersibles like the Titan do not have the same requirement. Sharpe suggests that a possible solution would be to introduce national or international rules stipulating that all submersibles used for commercial purposes must be flagged, meaning they would be subject to international or national laws. However, the flag states would still need to establish technical and operating standards for submersibles.
The Transportation Safety Board (TSB) has launched an investigation into the OceanGate Titan incident. The TSB’s most recent update reports that they have finished collecting relevant documents and conducting preliminary interviews with people on board the Polar Prince, the launch vessel. The vessel’s voyage data recorder is being analyzed at the TSB Engineering Laboratory in Ottawa. At the time of the incident, there were 41 people on board the Polar Prince, including family members of the deceased.
Transport Canada states that it would be premature to discuss regulatory changes or potential action at the International Maritime Organization while the TSB investigation is ongoing. If a submersible is registered in Canada, it would be under Transport Canada’s oversight, with regulations dependent on the submersible’s size and passenger capacity. OceanGate, the company involved in the disaster, has suspended all commercial and exploration operations since the incident. The recovered wreckage of the Titan is in the possession of the United States Coast Guard and has been documented by the TSB as part of their investigation.