It has ties to space exploration.

There are a lot of parallels with space tourism here. It is a high-risk, high-cost activity for wealthy individuals, that is currently unregulated. It is a visit to a harsh environment (worse than space in some ways), where life support is required, and finite. I hope that this incident doesn’t result in clamoring for regulation, of either submersibles, or space adventures. In the case of the submersible, it’s not clear who would regulate something that’s taking place in international waters.

[Update a few minutes later]

This unfortunate event will provide as an interesting case study for space tourism safety and for understanding the market response to tragedy. https://t.co/ebQQRf3kTc

— Greg Autry🚀 (@GregWAutry) June 20, 2023

[Noon update]

One of the people on the boat is an adventure addict.

Well, that’s the sort of people who do this sort of thing.

[Wednesday-morning update]

It’s looking more and more like this was negligence, and the people who did it were daredevils.

And then there’s this.

The CEO of OceanGate, which is operating the missing Titanic tourist submarine, explains that the company didn’t want to hire any experienced “50 year old white guys” because they weren’t “inspirational.” pic.twitter.com/kxXkhBn7oL

— Catch Up (@CatchUpFeed) June 21, 2023

[Bumped]

[Noon update]

The company was warned twice of potentially catastrophic consequences. It will be ironic if Rush is killed by his own decision, but it shows his misplaced confidence in it.

[Thursday-afternoon update]

“They likely didn’t know what hit them.”

[Bumped]

[Update a while later]

Thoughts from James Cameron:

‘Titanic’ director James Cameron on the ‘catastrophic implosion’ of Titan submersible: “I’m struck by the similarity of the Titanic disaster itself, where the captain was repeatedly warned about ice ahead of his ship and yet he steamed at full speed into an ice field." pic.twitter.com/vO8JkCXS5f

— ABC News (@ABC) June 22, 2023