James Cameron points out tragic similarities between Titanic shipwreck, Titan implosion

Titan, a submersible designed by OceanGate Expeditions, evidently imploded, as per a report from the US Coast Guard. Stockton Rush, Shahzada Dawood, his son Suleman Dawood, Hamish Harding and Paul-Henri Nargeolet were the five missing people, now declared dead, who were in the vessel and had gone to explore the wreckage of Titanic, which had sunk in 1912. 

Unfortunately, they died when the vessel imploded. The point of implosion was near the Titanic’s sinking site. Now, Titanic director James Cameron, who is known to be a deep sea diver himself, has reacted to the incident. 

3 things you need to know: 

• The Titan submersible had been a cause for concern among the deep sea exploration community.
• Cameron became the first person in 2012 to dive to the deepest parts of the ocean.
• The Avatar director noted the similarity between the two tragic incidents. 

Surreal: James Cameron addresses OceanGate Expeditions

The Avatar: The Way of Water director spoke with ABC News after the news of Titan’s implosion surfaced. He said he is baffled by how similar the two instances -- the Titanic sinking and the Titan imploding -- were. Cameron added that in both cases, "warnings went unheeded", and both tragedies took place "at the same exact site".

"We now have another wreck that is based on unfortunately the same principles of not heeding warnings. OceanGate were warned," the director said. He concluded by calling the incident "quite surreal". 

(A tweet illustrating the difference between Titan and James Cameron's self-designed submersible | Image: Twitter)

Deep sea diving community expressed concern over Titan implosion

Cameron said that several people within the community were unsure of the degree of safety Titan was engineered with. He went on to say that several "top players" from the submersible engineering community even wrote letters to the company, voicing their concerns.

The Titanic filmmaker later revealed that he knew Paul Henri ‘PH’ Nargeolot, one of the deceased, personally, and added that his passing in such a way is "almost impossible" to process. 

James Cameron's experience as a deep sea explorer

(James Cameron, Leonardo DiCarpio and Kate Winslet at the set for Titanic | Image:factsonfilm/Twitter)

Adding to his record-making solo diving endeavour, Cameron had also designed a submersible he had boarded for deep sea diving. He also famously directed Titanic, and in order to do so, had repeatedly visited the shipwreck site several times. The Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet starrer film went on to win 11 Oscars and is also one of the highest grossing films of all time.