The first fatal accident aboard a deep-sea tourist submersible is certain to raise calls for additional safety regulations, but industry experts say any new measures may be impossible to enforce given the international nature of the business.
Moreover, they say the tragedy of the Titan submersible that imploded during its expedition to the wreckage of the Titanic was an outlier, given that the maker of the vessel opted against certifying the vessel, defying industry convention.
All five people aboard the Titan, made by OceanGate Inc of Everett, Washington, were killed in an incident that launched a multinational search and captured the world's attention.
Industry experts say they were the first known fatalities in more than 60 years of civilian deep-sea submergence.
But even as industry leaders braced for increased scrutiny, they said it was difficult to forecast what sort of changes may come.
In the high seas where the Titan and other submersibles operate, there are no regulations and there is no government that controls international waters.
Movie director James Cameron, who became a deep-sea explorer in the 1990s while researching and making his Oscar-winning blockbuster "Titanic" and is part owner of Triton Submarines, said he would support regulation to require certification of vessels, but it would have to be passed in every country where submersibles operated.
"If it's taking passengers, whether they're science observers or citizen explorers, it should be certified," said Cameron, who is part of the small and close-knit submersible community, or Manned Underwater Vehicle (MUV) industry.
OceanGate has not addressed queries about its decision to forgo certification from industry third parties such as the American Bureau of Shipping or the European company DNV.
Of roughly 10 submersibles that exist in the world and are capable of diving to the depth of the Titanic - nearly 4,000 meters below the surface - only OceanGate's Titan was uncertified, said Will Kohnen, chairman of peer-review group Marine Technology Society's (MTS) committee on manned submersibles.
Most tourist submersibles explore coral reefs and other natural phenomenon at 500 meters or less.
In 2018, Kohnen authored a letter warning OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush that forgoing third-party certification for the Titan could result in a "catastrophic" outcome. Rush, the pilot of the Titan, was killed it the implosion.
U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger said at a Thursday press conference in which he announced that the Titan had imploded that "questions about the regulations that apply and the standards - that's going to be, I'm sure, a focus of future review."
Ofer Ketter, the president of SubMerge, a submersibles consulting and operations company based out of Costa Rica, said he had reassured clients that what happened to the Titan was unlikely to take place in the more hospitable depths that most private submersibles explored.
He said regulators could now focus on operations - how and when such vessels dive - but that no governments currently regulated the manufacture of private submersibles.
While acknowledging the loss of life aboard the Titan, Ketter said "the facts are the facts" when it came to the experimental path OceanGate chose to take.
"Professionals in this industry are sitting at home right now and holding their heads, and saying to themselves, 'What a mess, how do we explain this to the world, how do we differentiate between what most of us do and what OceanGate did?" Ketter said.
Justin Manley, president of Marine Technology Society, said the OceanGate incident could lead to increased oversight, but that "the high seas are inherently not regulated."
Dives in international waters, where no country can impose its law, would remain unaffected.
"It's not that the regulations would be irrelevant, but they probably wouldn't be the biggest forcing function on the industry," Manley said.
Reuters
Fri Jun 23 2023
The Titan submersible, operated by OceanGate Expeditions to explore the wreckage of the sunken Titanic off the coast of Newfoundland, dives in an undated photograph. OceanGate Expeditions/Handout via REUTERS
Mahkamah tolak permohonan pemilik akaun media sosial mulakan semakan kehakiman
Mahkamah Tinggi menolak permohonan pemilik akaun media sosial untuk mendapatkan kebenaran bagi memulakan prosiding semakan kehakiman terhadap MCMC.
KOM beri tiga atlet kebebasan pilih SUKMA atau kejohanan dunia
KOM memberi kebebasan kepada tiga atlet muda kebangsaan, untuk memilih sama ada mewakili negeri ke SUKMA atau menyahut cabaran negara pada Kejohanan Olahraga Dunia Bawah 20 tahun (B-20) 2024.
Anggota polis didakwa terima rasuah beri tembakau kepada tahanan lokap
Seorang anggota polis berpangkat koperal berhadapan dua pertuduhan menerima rasuah sebagai balasan membawa masuk barang terlarang kepada tahanan lokap.
SPRM sahkan tiada penyelewengan, rasuah dikesan dalam projek NTC setakat ini
SPRM mengesahkan tidak menemui sebarang penyelewengan serta rasuah setakat ini berhubung cadangan projek pembinaan National Training Center (NTC) di Putrajaya yang dianggar bernilai RM25 juta.
WEF: Perdagangan Malaysia, Arab Saudi boleh diperkukuh menerusi kerjasama - Tengku Zafrul
Kerjasama Malaysia-Arab Saudi dengan saling memanfaat kekuatan antara satu sama lain dapat menyokong pertumbuhan perdagangan dan pelaburan.
Jalan berlubang, penunggang motosikal dapat ganti rugi RM721,000
Akibat kemalangan tersebut, plaintif mengalami kecederaan di bahu, lengan, jari dan kepala.
Selamatkan Gaza: Gaza semakin hari semakin memburuk
Peperangan di Gaza semakin hari semakin memburuk. Setakat ini dilaporkan lebih 37 ribu warga Gaza telah terkorban kerana serangan demi serangan daripada rejim Zionis.
Ia membawa kepada berlakunya krisis kemanusiaan di Gaza ketika ini.
Di Mesyuarat Khas wef yang berlangsung di Arab Saudi..krisis ini menjadi antara tumpuan.
Kita terus bersama dengan Najib Aroff dan Ashwad Ismail yang mengikuti mesyuarat ini di Arab Saudi.
Ia membawa kepada berlakunya krisis kemanusiaan di Gaza ketika ini.
Di Mesyuarat Khas wef yang berlangsung di Arab Saudi..krisis ini menjadi antara tumpuan.
Kita terus bersama dengan Najib Aroff dan Ashwad Ismail yang mengikuti mesyuarat ini di Arab Saudi.
Letupan bom Sungai Golok: Empat anggota keselamatan Thailand cedera
Empat anggota keselamatan Thailand cedera apabila terkena letupan bom di Sungai Golok, Thailand, malam tadi.
Berang tidak bantu angkat tong gas, penghantar barang dibelasah, motosikal dirosakkan
Suspek menyerang mangsa dengan topi keledar sehingga menyebabkan mangsa mengalami kecederaan di dahi.
Arahan tutup pasar malam waktu Maghrib tidak babitkan peniaga bukan Islam
Arahan penutupan sementara hanya membabitkan peniaga Islam bagaimanapun turut menggalakkan peniaga bukan Islam sekiranya mahu berbuat demikian.
OceanGate tangguh semua operasi eksplorasi, komersial susulan kecelakaan Titan
OceanGate pada Khamis menerusi laman sesawangnya mengumumkan bahawa "semua operasi eksplorasi dan komersial" syarikat itu akan ditangguhkan.
Tragedi Titan: Pengawal Pantai Amerika siasat punca kapal selam meletup
Siasatan menyeluruh dilakukan bagi merungkai persoalan mengenai ketiadaan peraturan berhubung ekspedisi Titan ke lokasi bangkai Titanic.
Tragedi Titan: CEO abai amaran tahap keselamatan kapal selam
Pakar penyelidikan laut dalam pernah berbincang mengenai keupayaan Titan menyertai ekspedisi laut dalam dengan CEO OceanGate yang juga mangsa tragedi itu.
Tragedi kapal selam Titan: Ini fakta dan kronologi kejadian yang perlu anda tahu
Semua lima mangsa yang berada dalam kapal selam itu disahkan maut sekali gus menamatkan operasi pencarian yang berlanjutan selama lima hari.
Penumpang kapal selam Titan mungkin keracunan karbon dioksida
Bekalan elektrik yang terputus dalam kapal selam itu juga akan menyebabkan kawalan gas oksigen dan karbon dioksida tidak dapat berfungsi.
Kapal selam Titan meletup berhampiran Titanic, lima penumpang disahkan meninggal dunia
Serpihan kapal selam itu yang ditemui berhampiran Titanic menjadi petunjuk Titan telah berakhir di Laut Atlantik.