in the wake of comments from “Titanic” and “Avatar” filmmaker James Cameron on the loss of OceanGate’s Titan submersible, the co-founder of the company has disputed Cameron’s claims.
Along with being an incredibly successful film director, Cameron is one of the world’s leading experts in the field of deep-sea submersible diving.
He’s a submersible designer, has been down to the wreckage of the Titanic over thirty times, and has shot numerous documentaries about deep-sea wildlife.
He was also the first person to successfully solo dive to the deepest part of the Mariana Trench. In comments the other day to ABC News about the disaster that had made global headlines, he said:
“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.”
Speaking to the Times Radio Friday (via TMZ), OceanGate co-founder Guillermo Söhnlein addressed the criticism and said it’s ‘impossible’ for anyone on the outside to speculate on what happened to the ship – that includes Cameron:
“It’s impossible for anyone to really speculate from the outside… I know from firsthand experience that we were extremely committed to safety, and risk mitigation was a key part of the company culture.”
The Titan submersible, owned by OceanGate, originally set out on a trip to explore the wreckage of the Titanic on Sunday. Since then, the submersible has been missing.
On Thursday, the U.S. Coast Guard revealed debris consistent with the submersible was found near the wreck of the Titanic and all five passengers are presumed dead due to the vessel’s implosion – including OceanGate’s CEO Stockton Rush who was piloting the craft.
