Turns out James Cameron was right.
The U.S. Coast Guard released the findings from its multi-year investigation into the implosion of OceanGate’s Titan submersible in 2023 and found that the disaster, which killed all five of the vehicle’s occupants, was a “preventable tragedy.”
The 335-page report from the Coast Guard’s Marine Board of Investigation found that “OceanGate’s failure to follow established engineering protocols for safety, testing, and maintenance of their submersible, was the primary causal factor.” In terms of prevention going forward, the panel called for “improved regulatory oversight, in particular for novel vessel designs and operations.”
Cameron has made several films related to the Titanic and descended to the wreck over 30 times. He also designed and built his own submersible which he piloted solo 35,787 below sea level into the Challenger Deep of the Mariana Trench in the Pacific. That’s far below the depth at which the Titanic sits.
In 2023, the Titanic director criticized OceanGate’s decisionmaking around the hull of its submersible. Cameron said that if he were designing a vehicle to carry passengers he would put it through certification and test protocols with one of the big names in that business, such as the American Bureau of Shipping. That was not the case for Titan.
“I think it was unconscionable that this group did not go through that rigorous process,” he told CNN at the time.
Asked about the carbon composite used in the Titan’s experimental design, Cameron said, “It’s completely inappropriate for a vessel that sees external pressure.” He went on to say that carbon fiber is very helpful when used for applications subject to internal pressure, like scuba tanks. But, he said, “for something that’s seeing external pressure, all of the advantages of composite material go away and all the disadvantages come into play.”
Indeed, the Coast Guard report cites “a loss of structural integrity of the carbon fiber or glue joint” as a key factor.
The implosion killed all five people on board: OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush; Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet; wealthy Pakistanis Shahzada and Suleman Dawood and British explorer Hamish Harding.
Josh Gates, the host of Discovery‘s Expedition: Unknown, revealed in 2023 that he dove in the same sub near the wreck of the Titanic. Gates said that the prospect of getting footage of the sunken ship was a “huge opportunity,” but he decided against a second voyage because the vessel, dubbed Titan, “did not perform well on my dive.”
Gates was later a key voice in Discovery’s a two-hour documentary special titled Implosion: The Titan Sub Disaster. See below for a clip from Implosion in which Gates details his concerns.
