Leave it to the internet algorithm to bring something foreboding to my YouTube homepage last night.
This week the news of Titan, the missing submersible, has been on many people’s minds. And this story only deepened my fears about the situation’s outcome.
The tourist submersible that went missing while exploring the Titanic wreck was previously the target of safety complaints from an employee of OceanGate, the parent company that owns the sub and runs tourist expeditions of the wreck. That employee complained specifically that the sub was not capable of descending to such extreme depths before he was fired…
The concerns Lochridge voiced came to light as part of a breach of contract case related to Lochridge refusing to greenlight manned tests of the early models of the submersible over safety concerns. Lochridge was fired, and then OceanGate sued him for disclosing confidential information about the Titan submersible. In response, Lochridge filed a compulsory counterclaim where he alleged wrongful termination over being a whistleblower about the quality and safety of the submersible.
It’s disturbing to think that someone was fired due to their concern over safety precautions.
Meanwhile, Netflix released a trailer for a film about freediving. If it came out any other week, I would be fine. And normally, I’d be curious. But a part of me wants to tell them to read the room.
In the past few weeks, we’ve heard about orcas attacking boats. Migrants have drowned at sea. And now, this submersible is missing.
I shudder to think what could be next.
What were they thinking?
OceanGate’s CEO is a man named Stockton Rush. He was on board when his vehicle went on this week’s voyage. I can’t help but wonder if his fellow passengers were aware of how he perceived safety.
Yesterday via social media, I saw the the following quote. And eventually, I found the article it came from. I admit that I skimmed to find the content, and looking at it in context I was horrified. Commenting on the Passenger Vessel Safety Act of 1993, the article states that
The law was well-meaning, Rush says, but he believes it needlessly prioritized passenger safety over commercial innovation (a position a less adventurous submariner might find open to debate). “There hasn’t been an injury in the commercial sub industry in over 35 years. It’s obscenely safe, because they have all these regulations. But it also hasn’t innovated or grown—because they have all these regulations.” The U.S. government, meanwhile, has continued to favor space exploration over ocean research: NASA today gets about $10.5 billion annually for exploration, while NOAA’s Office of Ocean Exploration and Research is allotted less than $50 million—a triumph of “emotion over logic,” Rush says. “Half of the United States is underwater, and we haven’t even mapped it!” (emphasis mine)
The little that I’ve read about Mr. Rush has left me with a portrait of a man who was eager to make his mark in his industry. He wanted to be an innovator. But his comments above, combined with the previously-linked article suggest something sinister: He so longed to be a pioneer in his field, that he saw basic safety regulations as an enemy of his success.
It’s good to be ambitious. But Dear Reader, I implore you: Don’t be so desperate to be the first to do something, that as you pursue your goals, you consider yourself a god.
We humans are exceptional and can do all sorts of things. But at the end of the day, we have limits. We cannot defy the laws of nature, God, the Universe—whatever you care to call it. We mustn’t idolize our desire to be unique to the point where we ignore experts’ wisdom.
Some like to say that rules were meant to be broken. But is that attitude worth it if it results in risking people’s lives?
I’m someone who has taken swimming lessons as an adult, and in order to be truly safe in the water, I know that I need to take more. And throughout this saga, a part of me couldn’t help but think of swimming as a comparatively simpler aquatic activity, and a point of contrast.
Remembering certain drowning cases involving adults has made me want to ask a question. At the risk of insulting the Titan’s passengers, did they truly understand what skilled swimmers take for granted?: Navigating the water isn’t remotely the same as going for a walk or even existing on land.
It’s all too easy to meet your end if you aren’t properly prepared.
I’ve always thought the ocean was beautiful, from afar. But right now, if I were given the opportunity to voyage out into her depths, I’d rather keep my distance.
Photo by NEOM on Unsplash.
claire.she.goes 