James Cameron lambasted the multinational rescue effort carried out to reach the doomed Titan submersible that had five people onboard.
The legendary filmmaker said the owners of OceanGate, the parent company of Titan sub, “broke the rules” and cost the lives of all five people inside.
“We all knew they were dead. We’d already hoisted a toast to our fallen comrades on [the] Monday night,” he said in an interview with 60 Minutes Australia.
Highlights
- James Cameron criticized the multinational rescue effort for the doomed Titan submersible and felt it was unnecessary
- The Titan sub suffered a catastrophic implosion during its June 2023 expedition to the Titanic wreck
- The sub's owners, OceanGate, is believed to have broke safety rules, leading to the deaths of five people onboard
- The Titanic filmmaker believes the U.S. Coast Guard followed a procedure that was torturous for the families involved
James Cameron said the multinational rescue effort to reach the doomed Titan submersible was unnecessary
Image credits: 60 Minutes Australia
In June 2023, the OceanGate Titan submersible was on an expedition to the Titanic wreck, the world’s most famous shipwreck.
The vessel suffered a catastrophic implosion during its descent, killing all five individuals aboard and raising serious concerns about safety standards.
The Titan sub lost connection with its host ship merely hours after it began its descent on June 18, 2023. Even though the sound of a suspected explosion or implosion was detected around the same time by the U.S. Navy, the noise was deemed “not definitive,” and a widespread search involving the U.S., Germany, Britain, France, and Canada was carried out.
All five people aboard the doomed Titan sub, owned by OceanGate, were killed in the tragic incident that took place in June 2023
Image credits: 60 Minutes Australia
James, who has completed more than 30 submersible dives to the Titanic wreck, slammed the search efforts that unnecessarily kept the world “waiting with bated breath.”
“It just transformed into this crazy thing,” he said. “Everybody running around with their hair on fire when we knew right where the sub was. Nobody could admit that they didn’t have the means to go down and look. So they were running all over the surface, and the entire world [was] waiting with bated breath.”
The Oscar-winner said he doesn't think the U.S. Coast Guard lied, but he felt "they went by a procedure that was torturous for the family"
When asked about whether he believed the U.S. Coast Guard lied, he replied: “I don’t think they lied.”
“I think they went by a procedure that was torturous for the family, unnecessarily torturous for the family,” he added.
“Now, could it have been something else? One in a trillion,” he also said about the implosion-like sound that came around the same time the sub lost connection with the host ship.
The Hollywood director and undersea explorer provided new details in the search for answers about the Titan sub catastrophe in the below episode of 60 Minutes Australia:
The Oscar-winning director is well-versed in underwater mysteries and made a record-breaking solo dive to 35,787 feet to the deepest point on Earth in 2012. He is also believed to have spent more time at the Titanic wreck than the captain of the ill-fated ship himself.
He slammed the OceanGate and said, “These guys broke the rules” with the creation of the Titan sub and by taking the passengers to the wreck without the required safety measures.
“They didn’t have classification. Theoretically, they should not have been legally allowed to carry passengers,” he added.