Tributes are being paid to the five individuals who tragically lost their lives aboard the Titan submarine, which U.S. officials have described as experiencing a “catastrophic implosion.”
The victims have been identified as Hamish Harding, 58; Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his son Suleman Dawood, 19; Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77; and Stockton Rush, 61.
The families of the deceased have expressed deep sorrow and honored their loved ones for their dedication to exploration.
Following the Titan’s loss of contact on Sunday, the U.S. Navy initially detected an “acoustic anomaly consistent with an implosion.”
Subsequently, a robotic diving vehicle discovered significant remnants of the submarine on the seabed, approximately 1,600 feet (480 meters) from the Titanic shipwreck, on Thursday.
James Cameron, the director of the 1997 Titanic film and an experienced diver who has completed 33 dives to the wreck, voiced his concerns about a potential disaster when the submarine went missing.
Experts are now questioning the safety of the Titan submersible and the regulatory measures governing private sector deep-sea expeditions.
James Cameron believes OceanGate Titan imploded before reaching Titanic. #OceanGate #OceansGate #Titan #Titans📷 #submarino #Submarine #Submersible #implosion #imploded #Titanic #TitanicRescue #titanicsubmarine #sousmarin pic.twitter.com/wGtWvXR0V7
— Ak Cheema (@AkCheema777) June 23, 2023
Guillermo Söhnlein, a co-founder of OceanGate, has rejected some of the criticisms directed at the company over safety and certification.
Söhnlein left the company 10 years ago but still retains a minority stake.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he said those commenting on the Titan’s safety, including film director James Cameron, were not fully informed.
“People keep equating certification with safety and are ignoring the 14 years of development of the Titan sub,” he says.
“Any expert who weighs in on this, including Mr Cameron, will also admit that they were not there for the design of the sub, for the engineering of the sub, for the building of the sub and certainly not for the rigorous test programme the sub went through.”
Söhnlein said it had been a “tragic loss for the ocean exploration community” but anyone who operates in the deep ocean “knows the risk of operating under such pressure and that at any given moment… you run the risk of this kind of implosion”.
He added that he thought technology and innovation can outpace regulation and developers are in a better position to understand the risks and best minimise them.