From the moment the first stories broke about the Titanic sinking into the freezing Atlantic on April 15, 1912, the world has been fascinated by its tragic story. Of course, it was James Cameron’s monster 1997 hit Titanic that really ignited modern interest in the titular vessel, resulting in a cottage industry of exploratory missions to the ocean floor where the super-rich can view the wreck for themselves.
Now, one of them appears to have gone very badly wrong. OceanGate Expeditions’ submersible Titan began its descent on Sunday, with one pilot and four tourists on board. Communications have now been lost, and a frantic search is underway in the hopes of saving them. Rescuers don’t know if the sub is still on the ocean floor (with the craft having 96 hours of oxygen), or somewhere on the surface.
James Cameron, who is famed for his deep ocean exploration, is yet to comment. However, his friend and Titanic technical advisor Parks Stephenson has given a rather gloomy prediction on Facebook:
“No matter what you may read in the coming hours, all that is truly known at this time is that communications with the submersible have been lost and that is unusual enough to warrant the most serious consideration.”
Stephenson is now declining interview requests to be respectful for what he sees as a “major tragedy.”
“Please keep the well being of all those potentially affected in your thoughts. They wouldn’t be out there if it wasn’t for the public demand for information regarding this wreck.”
Since the mysterious disappearance, eyebrows have been raised after technical details of the Titan submersible became known. A CBS report from November 2022 reveals that it’s built from many off-the-shelf components, was guided by text message from the surface and is piloted using a third-party Xbox controller.
The rescue effort is now underway, with the Boston Coastguard scouring the area 370 miles off the coast of Newfoundland. The hope is that it’s somewhere on the surface, as if Titan is stranded on the ocean floor there are no submersibles with the technical capacity to retrieve it.