The Titanic disaster led to a rethinking of international regulations. The case of the Titan may have a similar legacy
The Titanic sets sail from Southampton, Great Britain, 1912. The RMS Titanic was a British ocean liner that sank in the North Atlantic Ocean in the early morning of April 15, 1912, after colliding with an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton to the New York City. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers and crew on board, more than 1,500 died.
After the RMS Titanic sank on its maiden voyage across the Atlantic in 1912, governments on both sides of the ocean carefully considered whether more could have been done to protect the approximately 2,200 people on board, including the more than 1,500 who They died that tragic day.
The result was the Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS). Its framework, approved in 1914, stands to this day, with many of its rules evolving directly from the Titanic tragedy.
With the implosion of the Titan submarine, as it plunged toward the wreck of the Titanic this week, killing all five people on board, experts say there may be new impetus for rules governing the new high-end, high-priced tourism. of the type that is being practiced by OceanGate Expeditions, the company that handled the Titan.
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The Unsinkable Ship: When the Titanic set sail from Southampton, it was the world’s largest ocean liner, built with cutting-edge maritime technology that many thought made it unsinkable.
Such was the belief on the Titanic that the safety standards of the time were not updated to keep up with technology.
Lessons from the Titan: Maritime experts and historians have pointed out that the Titan submarine operated outside the regulations prompted by the Titanic disaster and did not need to conform to safety regulations as it operated in international waters.
Although innovators and explorers can push the limits – or even break the rules – to achieve scientific breakthroughs, experts say there should be a higher safety threshold for paying passengers, such as three of those who died aboard the Titan, and that it may be necessary to reconsider the international rules governing these expeditions, just as they were reexamined after the sinking of the Titanic.
“It’s quite possible that the Titan is the catalyst for more regulation in the field of submersibles,” says Per Wimmer, a Danish adventurer and philanthropist.
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