Last month, James Cameron spoke about the tragedy of the OceanGate Titan, the submersible that claimed the lives of five people who set off to see the wreckage site of the Titanic. The Oscar-winning director helmed Titanic back in 1997, and he visited the wreckage site more than 30 times, so he certainly knows a lot about the subject. “I’m struck by the similarity of the Titanic disaster itself,” Cameron toldย ABC News. “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. For a very similar tragedy, where warnings went unheeded, to take place at the very exact site … I think it’s just astonishing. It’s really quite surreal.” Ever since the tragedy occurred, people have speculated that Cameron might make a film about OceanGate, but the director has no intention of turning the story into a movie.
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“I don’t respond to offensive rumors in the media usually, but I need to now,” James Cameron wrote on Twitter. “I’m NOT in talks about an OceanGate film, nor will I ever.” You can view the director’s tweet below:
“The collective ‘we’ didn’t remember the lesson of Titanic,”ย Cameron recently toldย CNN’s Anderson Cooper. “These guys at OceanGate didn’t. Because the arrogance and the hubris that sent that ship to its doom is exactly the same thing that sent those people in that sub to their fate. And I just think it’s heartbreaking. I think it’s heartbreaking that it was so preventable.”
OceanGate co-founder Guillermo Sรถhnlein, who maintains a minority ownership stake in the company, reacted to Cameron’s comments.ย
“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 program the sub went through,” Sรถhnlein toldย BBC Radio 4’sย Todayย show. “This was a 14-year technology development program and it was very robust and certainly led through successful science expeditions to the Titanic even over the last three years.”
In a statement, OceanGate confirmed the passing of the five passengers of the Titan, and commemorated their legacy as explorers:ย
“We now believe that our CEO Stockton Rush, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood, Hamish Harding, and Paul-Henri Nargeolet, have sadly been lost. These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world’s oceans. 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.”
What do you think about James Cameron’s OceanGate tweet? Tell us in the comments.ย
