Titanic director James Cameron accuses OceanGate of cutting corners

submitted by boston_blackie from bbc.com

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[–]Tom_Bombadil 3 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 2 fun -  (6 children)

Oceangate was designed to look like a low-budget operation.

The Oceangate name even includes the media scandal (and misdirection) trigger word "gate".

It's too on the nose. Something doesn't add up.

[–]Newmug 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (5 children)

Hold on - you think this was planned???

[–]WoodyWoodPecker 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

I think it was an insurance scam. He took insurance on them and made a shitty sub.

[–]makesyoudownvote 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

But... He was on the sub.

Do you think he had some sort of escape plan or something? That money doesn't mean much of anything if he's dead.

[–]WoodyWoodPecker 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

I think it was a suicide and he put down someone else's name as a beneficiary.

[–]makesyoudownvote 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Seems like a reach. That level of planning for a suicide seems unlikely.

I do agree that the whole enterprise seems sketchy in more ways than just cost savings though.

[–]Tom_Bombadil 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

There's no way to know at this point.

They cut corners in the extreme. In absurd ways. Far beyond foolish ways.

We may find out more in time.

Find a few billionaires who want to disappear, and make a sub that's so shabby that it's believable.

In general, billionaires aren't risk takers. They set things up for profit. They have the resources to pull it off.

[–]Newmug 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

No shit!

[–]RedItBurn 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

He's trying to harvest social credit while it's hot. It's easy to say after the fact "oh, yeah, I totally knew it was dangerous!" If he wants credit, he should have been saying that well before the disaster.

[–]monkeymagic 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (11 children)

nothing says complete and total horseshit psy opp like a hollywood director chiming in on submarine safety standards

[–][deleted] 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (5 children)

You alright bro? He's been down there over 30 times, he's even built his own submersibles for that purpose.

[–]monkeymagic 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

you’re a fucking mark

professional calculated risk takers aka billionaires do NOT get in carbon fiber coffins ⚰️ and dive to the ocean floor in them 5 at a time. ever. the fact that you believe any of this is fucking hilarious

[–][deleted] 1 insightful - 4 fun1 insightful - 3 fun2 insightful - 4 fun -  (2 children)

At least I'm not autistic like you.

[–]monkeymagic 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (1 child)

if it takes an autistic person to understand what mainstream media is and what it’s purpose is than i’m autistic all day you dumb sob 😂

ps: this story was published by the people that told you building 7 went down a half hour before building 7 went down 😜

[–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

That's fine I guess. I'm saying this specific instance is not a case of mainstream media being retarded.

[–]China_Lover2 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

There were no billionaires there, mostly millionaires. T

[–]makesyoudownvote 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

This is as dumb of a take as the idiots criticizing the Logitech controller, or the idiots calling ivermectin horse de-wormer.

Things can have multiple uses, and people can have multiple expertises.

Look, I am not saying you are nessesarily wrong about the conspiracy, but James Cameron is actually pretty legit an expert in this field. I should know, I was a Hollywood director too in the early 2000s AND a mariner.

I grew up around boats, and even spent a summer maintaining a small submarine that used to give tours of a local reef.

I went back to college in 2015 and now I'm also an engineer. I actually work closely with the company that supplied the actual composite material used in the Cyclops 2/Titan, though I did my first project for them about 2 years after they supplied the carbon composite actually used in this craft.

They absolutely cut corners. Rush admitted they cut corners. He even bragged about it.

The most shocking thing about this comment is how safe it is. Cameron should have a lot more to say on the topic, and he chose to refrain from any speculation.

[–]turtlew0rk 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

A $49 dollar bluetooth playstation controller as the main (and only) steering control system on any vessel is stupid af. The human lives aside, there is far too much of an investment to have such a critical potential weak link.

[–]monkeymagic 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

it’s almost as if it’s a bullshit story created to sound as ridiculous as possible, maybe in an effort to test the boundaries of how stupid people actually are now.

listen to this other guy though. he was a hollywood director and he should know.

[–]Alienhunter 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

The gaming controller as steering control doesn't bother me. The wireless does.

I've got some gaming controllers that are working fine after 40+ years of abuse. If it's made well it can handle an undersea voyage.

Getting my Bluetooth to sync is a bitch though. Shit needs to be hard wired somehow.

[–]makesyoudownvote 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

It would be. If that were the case. But it's not.

There were several back up controllers and a hardmounted touchscreen interface too.

All I'm saying is that a $49 controller really isn't any better than a multimillion dollar one. The US Navy realized this about a decade ago, which is why their periscopes are now controled by Xbox controllers.

https://www.geekwire.com/2017/u-s-navy-swapping-38000-periscope-joysticks-30-xbox-controllers-high-tech-submarines/

[–]bucetao6969 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

stop linking shitty bbc

[–]boston_blackie[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

you keep saying that

[–][deleted] 1 insightful - 2 fun1 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

Cameron is based.

[–]Beorn 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Meh, NASA do same. Everyone shit on dead man to better of self.

"Test data since 1977 had revealed a potentially catastrophic flaw in the SRBs' O-rings"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Challenger_disaster

[–]Alienhunter 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Going into space is a lot more expensive and "harder" to do because of the initial launch. But it seems to me that building a vehicle worthy of space travel would be a lot easier than building a submersible.

Space vehicle needs to be able to withstand a pressure of one atmosphere. (Outward)

Submersible need to be able to handle 300 atmosphere of pressure at 3000 meters or so.

If your spacecraft hull had a flaw explosive decompression is a concern but it happens at only one atmosphere of pressure. That means it might as well be a slow leak that can be identified and fixed. A submarine, once the hull is compromised the force will tear it apart.

I kinda wanna visit the titanic now, but I'd probably build a drone attached to a cable and pilot it remotely from the safety of the ship. No reason to actually head down there these days. It's not like you can leave the submersible and walk around.