James Cameron wants regulations on tourist subs after Titan tragedy

James Cameron has spoken again about the Titan submersible tragedy, calling for stronger regulations for tourist subs in future.

The OceanGate vessel set off on a voyage into the deep ocean on 18 June, aiming to reach the wreckage of the Titanic. However, a little under two hours after it set off, those on the surface lost contact with it. Around the same time, the sub is thought to have imploded, killing all five people on board.

Cameron, who has built his own submersible which journeyed down to the Challenger Deep which has a depth of 10,902–10,929 metres, previously condemned the apparent lack of safety on the OceanGate Titan vessel.

This week he spoke in front of the Deepsea Challenger, part of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society’s exhibit called “Pressure: James Cameron into the Abyss” in Ottawa.

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He called for increased regulation surrounding tourist vessels, saying: “No fatalities, no incidents, no deaths, no implosions until today.

"This is an extreme outlier of a data point that, in a sense, proves the rule. And the rule is we’ve been safe for half a century.”

Leon Bennett/Getty Images

He added: “We have to be reminded of the possibility of human failure.”

Cameron previously hit back at claims that he’s planning a new project based on the Titan submersible disaster.

It comes after false reports emerged that the Titanic director was working on a new film about the tragic incident, which took place last month.

Cameron had made his own visits to the Titanic wreckage and used some of the footage for his 1997 blockbuster starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. His own sub the Deepsea Challenger went to the Mariana Trench Challenger Deep for a 2014 Nat Geo documentary.

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