MovieChat Forums > James Cameron Discussion > Dude needs to fly to Newfoundland and re...

Dude needs to fly to Newfoundland and rescue the lost tourist submarine!

posted 10 months ago by Otter (24464)
4 replies | jump to latest

I'm absolutely serious about this. A deep-sea submersible carrying tourists to see the wreck of the Titannic is missing, and if anyone is still alive, they're 12,000 feet down.

Deep-sea diving is a small and very expensive world, and Cameron is really into it, he'll dive down to the bottom of the Mariana Trench just for fun! (And maybe a bit if science.) So if anyone on Earth has the money, expertise, and equipment to stage a rescue, it's Cameron!

[–] fc31 (4573) 10 months ago

He obviously can't. Lawyers and insurance companies will get in the way.

He would be exposed legally, and could be sued for doing so.

Once all the negotiations finalized, and he is allowed to do so, the bodies would have already decomposed.

[–] Otter (24464) 10 months ago

I have no idea if "good Samaritan laws" apply in international waters, not that there's any point in discussing what Cameraon woulda shoulda done at this point.

However, I have an idea for a ripoff movie about this little disaster! Say a tourist submarine is lost in the deep sea, and it's confirmed to be trapped inside a well-known shipwreck on the bottom, and the world's greatest expert about this particular wreck is a Hollywood movie director! So the geeky jerky movie director is drafted onto the rescue team, and it's all played for laugh, until shit gets real at the bottom of the sea...

[–] fc31 (4573) 10 months ago

It is not about "good Samaritan laws", which is mostly about offer legal protection to people who give reasonable emergency assistance to those who are injured, ill or in danger, at least that is what is about in Australia.

It is about whether he could be sued by the families of the very people he tried to help, arguing he endangered the rescue mission or caused the implosion when he was down there. Or even the insurance companies saying he caused it and refuse to pay.

So unless they found the wreckage, or know for sure those people need assistance, there is no reason for him to help. Once that is for certain it almost certainly is too late.

At least that is what I think.

[–] Otter (24464) 10 months ago

It's all a moot point anyway, as it seems the deathtrap sub imploded before the first distress calls went out. The ship frequently lost contact with the sub, so what I've heard is that the ship didn't contact the authorities for help until the ship was supposed to surface.

Anyway, there are Good Samaritan laws in the US, and presumably in Canada, and I have absolutely no idea what sort of civil law covers international waters! There may be none, which of course wouldn't have stopped certain lawyers from giving it a go if deep pockets were known to be involved.