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James Cameron
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Arnold Schwarzenegger Credits ‘Terminator’ Filmmaker James Cameron for Anticipating the Rise of AI: “It Has Become a Reality”
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‘Titanic’ is Coming Back to Netflix Following Titan Submarine Disaster, Leaving Many Infuriated: “You Cannot Possibly Be This Shameless”
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James Cameron Shares Terrifying Story About His Failed Titanic Submersible Dive: “Things Started to Fail” at Around 26,000 Feet Deep
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Is ‘Titanic’ Based on a True Story? What’s True About James Cameron’s 1997 Romance Film
Titanic director James Cameron shared his thoughts on the missing OceanGate sub after news broke that debris had been located in the search site, suggesting the sub experienced a “catastrophic” implosion and left no survivors.
“Many people in the community were very concerned about this sub,” he explained during an appearance on ABC News on Thursday (June 22). “And a number of the top players in the deep submergence engineering community even wrote letters to the company saying what they were doing was too experimental to carry passengers and needed to be certified.”
“I’m struck by the similarity of the Titanic disaster itself, where the captain was repeatedly warned about ice ahead of his ship and yet he steamed at full speed into an ice field on a moonless night,” he said. “For a very similar tragedy where warnings went unheeded to take place at the same exact site… I think it’s just astonishing, it’s really quite surreal.”
The director claimed he knew the Titanic wreck site “very well” after having made 33 dives to see it, including the 12 trips he made while directing Titanic. “I actually calculated that I spent more time on the ship than the captain did back in the day,” he said.
Cameron also added that he personally knew victim Paul-Henry Nargeolet, a 73-year-old maritime explorer who was aboard the missing OceanGate submersible.
“It’s a very small community,” he said, referring to the deep submergence diving community he has become a part of over the years. “I’ve known P.H. for 25 years. For him to have died tragically in this way is almost impossible for me to process.”
Among the victims presumed to be dead is OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, British explorer Hamish Harding, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, and his 19-year-old son Suleman Dawood.
According to Rear Admiral John Mauger, the debris that was located Thursday is “consistent with the catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber.”
OceanGate has since issued a statement.
“Our hearts are with these five souls and every member of their families during this tragic time. We grieve the loss of life and joy they brought to everyone they knew,” the statement reads. “This is an extremely sad time for our dedicated employees who are exhausted and grieving deeply over this loss.”
