James Cameron was also aboard an unauthorised experimental submersible in 2012. But how did he survive?
Cameron has made several dives to the wreckage of Titanic and even the world's deepest point but he never brought any tourists along unlike the late OceanGate CEO. (photo-DailyO)
Director and fulltime underwater enthusiast James Cameron has expressed his condolences on the five lives lost due to the fatal implosion of the OceanGate submersible Titan which had set out to explore the ruins of Titanic.
James Cameron makes a Titanic comparison
All crew members including OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush and four paying tourists are no more. And while Cameron does lament the tragedy, the Titanic and Avatar filmmaker was quick to draw parallels between the underwater accident and the sinking of Titanic in 1912.
Commenting on how OceanGate was warned by a multitude marine experts and the safety of the submersible was repeatedly question, Cameron told ABC News, “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 and many people died as a result.”
The Way of Water: Cameron’s history with deep sea diving
The 68-year-old Canadian who first got fascinated with the deep seas with the 1989 sci-fi thriller The Abyss has made 33 dives to the Titanic wreck. A few trips seemed mandatory in the 1990s when Cameron was researching for his future Oscar Best Picture winner Titanic. But Titanic’s success made him hungry to embark on more underwater adventures.
For filming the Titanic-centric documentary Ghosts of the Abyss, Cameron and his crew (including Titanic actor Bill Paxton) even dived in Russian deep-submersibles in 2001 to get the clearest images of the wreckage. More than Cameron’s discoveries, the documentary is known for being filmed on the same day as 9/11. Cameron and his crewmates were naturally puzzled when they emerged out of the water to a chaotic America!
But it was in 2012 (the centenary of the Titanic disaster) when Cameron notably underwent a journey to the bottom of the western Pacific Ocean’s Challenger Deep, the deepest point on Earth as far as we know. The director piloted the Deepsea Challenger submersible, reaching the intended point nearly two and a half hours after descent. Cameron managed to collect fauna and geological samples. And as many Cameron experiences go, he also filmed his journey in 3D.
As Cameron was alone in the submersible this time, he also became the first solo explorer to venture to Challenger Deep. Given the director’s unending fascination with water, he could have very well stayed in the Pacific if it was possible. Anyway, Cameron safely arrived back at the surface, crediting yoga as one of the reasons to have been able to be cramped inside the submersible for over nine hours.
Cameron’s sub was experimental like the OceanGate sub but it didn’t allow tourists
In retrospect, Deepsea Challenger was similar to OceanGate’s Titan in the sense that both were unauthorised experimental submersibles. While Cameron himself contributed to designing the Deepsea Challenger, it was a dedicated team of Australian experts from builder Acheron Project that ensured the director-turned-pilot’s safety.
Cameron himself has always admitted that he knew the vessel would be experimental and he never cared to seek any safety certification from maritime industry organisations.
Citing his mission as a scientific one (that would also provide him rough money to produce many more Avatar sequels), Cameron felt that he didn’t need any certifications as he was venturing into the cramped vehicle all alone without any tourists.
While Deepsea Challenger was 24ft long, Titan was also just 2 feet shorter with a length of 22 feet. But the difference is that unlike the OceanGate fiasco, Cameron didn’t insist on bringing aboard any tourists.
As the director told The New York Times, “I would never design a vehicle to take passengers and not have it certified.”
Cameron criticised Stockton Rush for failing to gain any certification for the other tourists whom he refers to as “innocent guests” (not so innocent if you look at them from an eat-the-rich perspective).
Sub-minator Judgement Day: How Cameron’s sub was safer
OceanGate has been drawing criticism for its lack of certification and technological flaws like using an Xbox controller to steer Titan! For Cameron, the biggest design flaw in the Titan submersible was from its very raw material, carbon-fiber. Lighter than steel and aluminum but stronger in quality, carbon-fiber composites are also used in the construction of aerospace vehicles but the same formula cannot be used in the face of increased water pressure.
Talking to The New York Times about how carbon fiber has “no strength in compression”, Cameron also added that another design flaw could be the sensors in the submersible’s carbon-fiber hull. These sensors basically served as a warning system to let the pilot know if any the hull was imploding.
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“It’s not like a light coming on when the oil in your car is low. This is different.” he said of the network of hull sensors.
In comparison, Cameron’s Deepsea Challenger was much safer even if it was unauthorised. The main man whom Cameron can thank for that is the submersible’s co-designer Ron Allum who also designed camera rigs and systems for Cameron’s 2001 expedition in Russian submersibles. But starting from 2005, he dedicated himself to building the Challenger.
He started by building a pressure sphere, a part of the submersible that forms its core. Instead of using carbon fibre like OceanGate’s hull, Allum relied on steel walls for the core and it is his unique formula for a syntactic foam that proved to be a gamechanger. Called Isofloat, this foam was capable of going through the extreme pressure of the ocean abyss.
Occupying 70% of the submersible’s volume, Isofloat also removed the added risk of using gasoline-filled tasks for flotation (which former submersibles used to rely on).
As for Cameron now, he is currently mourning the victims including the French diving pilot and longtime friend Paul-Henri "PH" Nargeolet. Going back to the certification issues, Cameron remarks, “You can’t take that stance when you’re putting paying customers into your submersible — when you have innocent guests who trust you and your statements about vehicle safety.”