A year ago, the voyage of the Titan submersible, carrying five passengers to the wreckage of the Titanic liner, located about 4,000 meters deep in the North Atlantic, was suddenly and permanently suspended.
“[El océano] It’s a place where you have to know what you’re doing very well before you can try new things. You don’t ‘move fast and break things’, as they say in Silicon Valley, if you’re inside the thing you’re going to break.”
This is what James Cameron, deep ocean explorer, scientist and filmmaker, told the “60 Minutes Australia” program on June 9, 2024.
The submersible imploded at the site of the RMS Titanic.
Two of my friends and colleagues, PH Nargeolet from France and Hamish Harding from the UK, were on board.
I worked extensively with PH for several years on the design and operation of the Limiting Factor ultra-deep diving submersible, while with Hamish we went to the deepest point in the ocean, the Challenger Trench.
His loss wasn’t just news: for me, it was personal.
A year later, many are asking: “How has the incident changed deep-sea exploration?”
There are two answers.
The first is: “I hope a lot rather than a lot”.
By that I mean that I sincerely hope that this incident does not make people more afraid to dive into the depths of this extraordinary ocean, the soul of our world.
Three-quarters of the world’s oceans are completely unexplored and host a multitude of undiscovered species, geological puzzles that can help us understand earthquakes and tsunamis, and possibly insights into how climate change affects the world.
Unfortunately, the sensationalism surrounding the accident and the instinctive fear that many people have of the depths of the ocean may have made some of those unfamiliar with submersibles more afraid to board one.
But this should not be so at all; Just as people should not stop traveling by plane after hearing about a fatal plane crash.
Those of us in the submersible community (builders, pilots, and researchers) have not hesitated to continue diving extensively in these vehicles, which should give everyone else confidence in their safety.
The eternal arrogance
It is very important to understand the complete unconventionality of the Titan submersible.
It was an aberration in the history of submersible design, operation and safety.
The Titan was built primarily of carbon fibermolded into a cylinder shape, while all other deep diving submersibles are based on a metal or acrylic sphere.
Concerns about the ship’s safety had been raised since 2018, according to former employees of OceanGate, the company that owns the Titan.
Virtually every deep ocean engineering expert I know also implored OceanGate not to submerge the Titan, reporting that it was only a matter of time before the submersible imploded and killed the passengers.
Those warnings were ignored.
Let me say it again: It is critical that people understand that there are safe, well-established ways to build and operate submersibles in the deep ocean.
For 50 years, there has been no human deathnot even serious human injuries when diving in civilian submersibles based on these principles.
Properly certified (or “classified,” as they say in the industry) submersibles are like FAA-approved aircraft, as was first done by the industry leader and builder of my own advanced submersible, Triton Submarines of Florida, which only builds duly certified submersibles.
A large number of dives have been made to depths far exceeding those of the Titan, and all of them without incident.
I myself have piloted a submersible to more than 10,000 m (33,000 ft) depth, two and a half times deeper than the Titanic, 19 times.
It can be done safely and repeatedly and while taking other people on this incredible journey.
Unfortunately, OceanGate’s founder and underwater boss, Stockton Rush, dismissed security concernsas he considered them an obstacle to innovation and his ambition to establish a viable commercial operation.
He used carbon fiber so he could make a vessel large enough to carry enough passengers to pay for the high costs of building and operating a deep-diving submersible.
Those shortcuts to save and for the sake of possible rights of technological braggadocio in the face of what he perceived as an excessively conservative industry, they turned out fatal
Historical similarities abound.
The Titanic did not pay enough attention to warnings about the existence of large icebergs on its route, just as Oceangate ignored warnings about its flawed design.
The Titanic did not have enough lifeboats because they would supposedly have crowded the deck and ruined the view for passengers, while the Titan used carbon fiber so more people could fit on it.
And, of course, there was the eternal story of arrogance: The Titanic was “too big to sink” and the Titan was going to be “revolutionary”.
Both were considered perfectly safe by their owners, and yet they were not. Absolutely.
Light ray
There is a second way the loss of Titan could affect deep ocean exploration.
The accident, in an almost eerie way, repeated many of the elements that contributed to the Titanic tragedy more than a hundred years earlier.
However, the disaster could – and should – have a similarly positive effect on future global safety standards.
Following the loss of the Titanic, strict regulations for the safety of human life at sea were created that persist to this day.
These strict regulations govern the equipment, procedures and training necessary to operate commercial vessels at sea.
Therefore, The loss of the Titanic, tragic as it was, saved many more lives afterwardsby promoting new security measures to prevent a similar tragedy from happening again.
That is also a ray of hope emerging from the Titan disaster.
As we await the results of two official investigations into the accident by the U.S. Coast Guard and the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, there are calls to strengthen safety measures in the submersible industry.
“Unclassified” (i.e., not certified by reputable third parties) submersibles should never be permitted to carry commercial passengers.
As in aviation, experimental craft can and should be allowed to operate so we can push the limits of technology, safety and capability, but people who have no idea how to gauge the risks they are taking will not. they should be able to buy tickets and travel on experimental vessels.
Simply signing a waiver, circumventing the law by operating in international waters, or using legal judo to classify commercial passengers as “crew” when they clearly are not, should not protect risky operators from operating bans or retroactive legal action. when returning to any port.
Another key point is that, as with so many other aspects of our world, money spent on tourism, including deep-sea shipwreck tourism, provides funding for the development of technology and procedures that make ocean exploration more affordable, repeatable and secure.
There is not enough funding provided to develop marine technology, so supporting ocean tourism is necessary if we want to make it more accessible in the long run.
But it must be safe and follow established safety protocols.
Humanity should never stop exploring and expose as many people as possible to the extraordinary wonders of our world, including the depths of the ocean.
We must do so to better understand, appreciate and preserve it, as well as to nurture that most definitive and extraordinary aspect of human nature: the need to explore.
Commenting recently on the loss of the Titan and our mutual friend, PH Nargeolet, James Cameron said what I think are the best final words on the tragedy:
“Exploration will continue because it is necessary and because it is part of the human spirit… If done well, it can be done safely“.
* Victor L. Vescovo is a deep ocean explorer, certified submersible test pilot, former US Navy commander, and venture capitalist. He has visited the Titanic three times, was the first person to visit the deepest point of the world’s five oceans and has visited the ocean’s deepest point, the Challenger Deep Trench, 15 times.
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- What was the Titan like, the submersible that suffered a catastrophic accident when it was going to visit the remains of the Titanic with 5 people on board
- The theory that points to a “catastrophic implosion” of the Titan submersible destroyed while en route to the Titanic
- “You sign a disclaimer that lists all the ways you could die”: What it’s like to travel aboard the Titan submersible that was lost en route to the Titanic
- “If you want to be safe, don’t get out of your bed”: who was Stockton Rush, the pilot and businessman who founded the company that developed the missing Titan submersible