James Cameron on Titanic submersible tragedy: 'Felt it in my bones what had happened'

James Cameron has been to the Titanic wreckage site 33 times. (2nd Image: kirawontmiss/Twitter)

The OceanGate submersible, carrying five people on a mission to explore the wreckage of the Titanic deep down in the Atlantic Ocean, met with a catastrophic implosion that led to its destruction after being lost at sea for days. Renowned filmmaker and experienced deep-sea explorer, James Cameron, known for his directorial masterpiece "Titanic," shared his insights on the tragedy stating he knew something was wrong the moment communications and navigation was lost together at the same time.

Cameron, 68, has extensively explored the depths of the ocean, including 33 visits to the Titanic site.

"They were on descent; they were at 3500 meters heading for the bottom at 3,800 metres. Comms were lost and navigation was lost," Cameron said. "And I said instantly you can't lose comms and navigation together without an extreme catastrophic event, a highly energetic catastrophic event. And the first thing that popped to mind was an implosion. So I felt it in my bones what had happened."

Cameron said he had predicted the implosion – the catastrophe that claimed the lives of those inside the sub.

James Cameron believes OceanGate Titan imploded before reaching Titanic. #OceanGate #OceansGate #Titan #Titans #submarino #Submarine #Submersible #implosion #imploded #Titanic #TitanicRescue #titanicsubmarine #sousmarin pic.twitter.com/wGtWvXR0V7

— Ak Cheema (@AkCheema777) June 23, 2023

Reflecting on his personal experiences diving to the Titanic wreckage, Cameron talked about the allure of being present at the site.

"You feel the presence of the tragedy, and I think that's the lure. I think that's why people want to go and experience it for themselves. To feel, to remember history," he shared.

However, he expressed disappointment that the lessons from the Titanic disaster were not heeded in the case of the ill-fated OceanGate submersible expedition. "Here's a case starkly, today, where the collective, we didn't remember the lesson of Titanic - these guys at OceanGate didn't," Cameron lamented.

Cameron also shed light on concerns raised within the deep submergence engineering community regarding the OceanGate submersible.

"Many people in the community were very concerned about this sub," Cameron revealed. He added that experts had written letters to the company, cautioning against its experimental nature and stressing the need for certification.

"For us, a very similar tragedy where warnings went unheeded to take place at the same exact site with all the diving that's going on all around the world, I think it's just astonishing. It's really quite surreal," he added.

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The three-time Oscar winner also expressed scepticism regarding OceanGate's choice of materials - composite carbon fibre and titanium - for the submersible's hull.

"I thought it was a horrible idea. I wish I'd spoken up," Cameron admitted. "I assumed somebody was smarter than me, you know, because I never experimented with that technology, but it just sounded bad on its face."