OceanGate’s Titan submersible went off the radar an hour and 45 minutes after it began its Titanic expedition on the 18th of June. Shahzada and Suleman Dawood, Hamish Harding, Henry Nargeolet, and OceanGate’s CEO, Stockton Rush, presumably perished after the vessel instantaneously imploded under the weight of the ocean water. The incident is nothing short of a nightmare for those nearest and dearest to the victims. And yes, those onboard the Titan were victims of negligence and corporate arrogance.
A sinister air loomed over the internet during the search for the Titan submersible. For me, the emblem of this cynicism was News Nation’s 30-hour timer as the submersible’s remaining oxygen supply depleted. Naturally, social media worked its magic creating any tragedy into a macabre spectacle. Social media is currently inundated with memes of every shape and colour on the event. Edward Cassano, CEO of the main party involved in the Titan’s recovery mission (Pelagic Research Services), has called upon anonymous Twitter accounts everywhere to respect the seriousness of the incident. I found myself a little more jaded as I let out a sardonic laugh and thought ‘good luck with that’.
While the memes revelling in the Titan’s implosion are of questionable taste, there is no use clutching pearls. In fact, many share my excruciating awareness of the tragedy’s many ironies. Behind impact fonts and ‘eat the rich’ slogans is the bitter knowledge that one human disaster begets another of the same human nature. The thought of descending thousands of miles under the ocean’s surface to visit the remains of the very fate that I’m tempting rings all my alarm bells. Many will have felt enthralled by the prospect of going where few dare to tread. The least those people can expect is the safety risks to be taken seriously. OceanGate’s reckless venture in the name of exploration exhibits a similar hubris to the one that they were hoping to visit 3,000 miles under the sea. When I say the implosion of the Titan was tragic, I mean it in the most literary sense.
This was not a freak accident. The death of the five passengers is due to the dismissal and resistance to safety protocols years before the expedition. OceanGate fired whistle-blowers over safety concerns as early as 2018. Former director of marine operations, David Lochridge, alleged in a wrongful termination lawsuit that he was sacked from OceanGate after he pointed out ‘visible flaws’ in the vessel’s model. The Marine Technology Society’s letter to OceanGate in 2018 expressing ‘unanimous concern’ over the submersible’s components seemed to have fallen on deaf ears. In 2019, OceanGate stated it would not seek ‘outside evaluation’ and would continue the endeavour.
The Titan’s implosion was not a freak accident. It was the result of OceanGate disregarding a plethora of warnings about the security of the submersible. This is nothing new. From social housing to extreme tourism, when corporations and governments alike cut corners, you get what you pay for. There is no pioneership, no amount of profit, no race to the bottom that justifies the preventable loss of life. While this is not the first of its kind, the most unforgiving part of this tragedy is its avoidability.
Like I said before, I consider the four passengers accompanying Stockton Rush to be victims. But victims of what? I wouldn’t view their victimisation as anything akin to refugees who find themselves crossing dangerous waters for survival. With an opportunity as rare as this, the risk was clear. Safety concerns had cropped up from inside and outside the company for years. I see victimhood arising from OceanGate’s negligence. I see it in the intoxicating grip that adventure tourism has on those who can afford it. Commercial exploration projects such as these give a veneer of invincibility, that sheer willpower and tenacity override harsh elements and long-established protocols.
Why is the Titanic itself foundational to our cultural zeitgeist? The legacy of the Titanic throughout film and media is that of Western hubris on the world stage. The blind assumption of being unsinkable is what gave such a tragic air to the Titanic’s sinking in 1912. The allure of being a beacon of progress cannot hold weight under sloppy execution and a blasé dismissal of danger. Memes about OceanGate may be unpalatable, but for me, the persisting pomposity over a century leaves a sour taste in my mouth. The implosion of the Titan is not the first instance of prioritising profit over people, nor will it be the last. However, the most we can make of this tragedy is just that: a real Greek tragedy with a cautionary streak running through its entirety.
Words by Elizabeth Sorrell
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