Apparently the Titanic caused all the maritime laws to be rewritten for vessels. It’s very ironic that 100 years later we’re likely going to have something similar for submersibles caused by an accident at the same location with a similar name.
maybe, but because it happened in international waters maybe not. if it was in US coastal waters the Coast Guard would have had to approve the vessel. at best it will lead to registering the company in a country that doesn't care about maritime safety or laws, similar to having your head corporate office located at a post office box in ireland to avoid local corporate taxes.
You could absolutely write a law that prohibits operating, advertising, selling, or having their point of embarkation inside country X for diving tours on non-certified vessels. Or something along these lines. I'm sure a lawyer could come up with something better.
Making the commercial part illigal in many countries wil make it definitely more clear that you put your own life at risk. If people with that knowledge still want to (likely )kill themselves that's not a problem. The budget for rescue missions wil also be more reasonable for in most countries explicitly unsafe subs.
The exchange is worth repeating more fully. Excerpts:
Rob McCallum: “You are wanting to use a prototype un-classed technology in a very hostile place. As much as I appreciate entrepreneurship and innovation, you are potentially putting an entire industry at risk.”
Stockton Rush: “I know that our engineering focused, innovative approach flies in the face of the submersible orthodoxy, but that is the nature of innovation.”
Stockton Rush: “I have grown tired of industry players who try to use a safety argument to stop innovation and new entrants from entering their small existing market. Since Guillermo and I started OceanGate we have heard the baseless cries of ‘you are going to kill someone’ way too often. I take this as a serious personal insult.”
Rob McCallum: “I think you are potentially placing yourself and your clients in a dangerous dynamic. Ironically, in your race to Titanic you are mirroring that famous catch cry 'she is unsinkable.' Having dived the Titanic, and having stood in a Coroners Court as a technical expert, it would be remiss of me not to bring this to your attention.”
Just goes to show everyone that wealth =/= intelligence and while I feel sorry for the rest of the people and their families in there - I do think that if anyone should have died in that mess it was the CEO himself & certainly not some random tourist that he couldn't have cared less about besides their money and those tourist dollars.
The facts are the facts and it's all true, but Rob McCallum is cited nine times in the article, with no explanation of who he is unless you watch the video. For the record, he's this guy: https://www.eyos-expeditions.com/about/team/rob-mccallum/
BBC is usually top-notch, but that's a hell of a journalistic booboo.
This is a pretty low joke, why don't you show some respect here?
I am sure he was under a lot of pressure to run a successful business. Traveling down to the bottom of the ocean is a titanic undertaking. If people started to complain about safety regulations, then that was just the tip of the iceberg and who knows what other obstacles could have cropped up along the way to sink his ship.
Still, this was a deep situation. It's unfathomable to think that anyone could feel nothing about this.
You don't have to feel crushed by the news, but at least show some respect. If I had $250,000 for every rude comment I've read about OceanGate in the last few days...
Societal etiquette has really imploded in the last few years. Every time I look at social media, it's like I am seeing new depths of bad behavior. I hope someday we can all gain some perspective and stop taking on water so we can right this sinking ship.
At this point everyone knows this man was incompetent in every aspect. Do we really need to read about it once again? People died, that's sad but they were fully aware of the risks. Let's move on.
I think I can get behind a few more days of this if it sears into any other rich, incompetent asshole’s brain out there a fear that their legacy will be as a laughingstock, not a genius engineering disruptor, if they ignore safety regulations.
“It would never happen to me. I’m one of the smart ones.” Said everyone that would eventually have it happen to them. God damn people that dont wear their seatbelts.
I hate to say I'm glad he was the pilot, but I kinda am. If he was around right now he would be insufferable. Most likely going on a damage control tour talking about how it was a freak accident, it's not his companies fault and how they can't wait to resume tours.
Every transport industry is heavily regulated with regards to safety for a reason. If you start a commercial enterprise on an untested vehicle you’re asking for trouble.
I have no issues with an untested tin can as a traveling device through a high pressure environment. However, I am personally going to pass if the opportunity arises for me to try this out.
If you’re going to speak ill of any of them, it should probably be the guy who was responsible for the deaths of the other four; when somebody murders his family and then himself, we don’t generally treat that person as a victim.
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