James Cameron hits out at Titan sub expedition one year on from disaster

Titanic director and deep sea explorer says OceanGate ‘broke rules’ with Titan sub

Titanic director and deep sea explorer James Cameron has hit out at the company behind the ill-fated Titan submarine a year after its voyage claimed the lives of five people.

On June 18 2023, the world waiting with bated breath as the search for the Titan was launched in the Atlantic Ocean.

The company who built and operated the sub, OceanGate, charged $250,000 (£195,000) for a commercial trip in the “Titanic tourist sub” to the helm of the famed shipwreck.

The Titan lost contact with the surface an hour and 45 minutes into its dive, sparking a dramatic search before its 96-hour emergency oxygen supply was estimated to run out.

The search ended in tragedy as remains of the imploded sub were found near the bow but only after global experts - including Cameron - had weighed in on the expedition.

People on board the vessel paid $250,000 for a trip to the Titanic wreck (PA Media)

Cameron, who has made over 30 dives to the wreck in manned submersibles himself both during and after the making of Titanic, offered to be an expert witness in the investigation.

Now, the legendary director says the OceanGate operation “broke rules” a year on from the tragic dive.

He told 60 Minutes Australia: “These guys broke the rules. It’s that simple. They shouldn’t have been legally allowed to carry passengers.

James Cameron said OceanGate shouldn’t have legally been allowed to carry passengers (Getty Images)

“This is a place where you’ve really got to know your stuff before you step outside the box.

“You don’t move fast and break things, as they say in Silicon Valley, if the thing you’re gonna break has got you inside it, along with other innocent people who believe your line of BS.”

The CEO of OceanGate, Stockton Rush, was also on board the Titan when it implodes and had previously bragged that he “broke some rules” to build the vessel.

Debris from the Titan submersible, recovered from the ocean floor near the wreck of the Titanic

He said: “I’ve broke some rules to make this, I think I’ve broken them with logic and good engineering behind me... the carbon fibre and titanium, there’s a rule you don’t do that - well I did.”

Five people, including OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush and Cameron’s close friend and Titanic expert, Paul-Henri Nargeolet, lost their lives around two hours into the Titan submersible’s commercial dive to the Titanic wreck site.

The disaster was the result of a “catastrophic implosion” that has been speculated to be the result of the submersible’s controversial carbon fibre hull.

OceanGate co-founder Stockton Rush on the left, and the company’s Titan sub on the right (OceanGate)

OceanGate suspended all of its operations in the wake of the disaster.

A spokesperson for the Coast Guard told The Independent that the investigation remains in its fact-finding phase and that it is still collecting all relevant evidence and information.

While projected completion date is not available, the latter part of the fact-finding phase will include a public hearing.