By now, you’ve no doubt heard about the implosion of the OceanGate Titan submersible on its way to visit Titanic. I have a very good friend who was on board the Titan late last year for a new documentary he was filming about Titanic. Bad weather forced his particular dives to the wreck to be scrubbed and in light of what happened to Titan last week, I can’t tell you how grateful I am that he wasn’t able to go. By many accounts, Titan was improperly designed, and perhaps most importantly, lacked any sort of official certification or “classing” pertaining to depth or sea worthiness.
In 2012, director James Cameron set a new world record for solo descent when he piloted his own Deepsea Challenger submersible to a depth of 35,756 feet to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, which is the deepest oceanic trench on Earth. The entire project was documented by National Geographic (who also partnered in the construction) in a film called James Cameron’s Deepsea Challenge 3D.
Another incredible submersible is the DSV Limiting Factor, which was built by Triton Submarines and piloted by explorer Victor Veskovo to the deepest points of all five of Earth’s oceans. DSV Limiting Factor is the most advanced and deepest-diving submersible ever built. It has also been commercially certified by DNV for unlimited full ocean depth operations, which means it can dive anywhere on Earth. Limiting Factor was purchased in 2022 by Valve Software founder Gabe Newell.
ADDITIONAL LINKS
James Cameron Completes Record-Breaking Mariana Trench Dive
Deepsea Challenger - Wikipedia
Victor Vescovo TED Talk