It has been over a year since one of the most bizarre freak accidents to capture the world’s attention. I am, of course, speaking of the Titan submersible, operated by the company Oceangate. The company had been operating the submersible for a few years, and it had already gone through a hull replacement, with the previous carbon fiber hull being replaced due to concerns over fatigue. This should tell you something, because most submersibles use materials with a great enough factor of safety and high enough confidence that dangerous levels of material fatigue are just not an issue.

At the time this happened, I, personally, knew very little about the operation. I had heard of a new private venture, which had been taking paying customers to the titanic. To be perfectly honest, that kind of thing isn’t all that interesting to me. Of all the shipwrecks in the world, few have been more thoroughly documented or more constantly bombarded by tourists and other activity. Sure, it still holds some level of scientific and historical interest. It is, after all, one of few liners of the era that still exists in any form. The only others that are still around are also sunk, such as the Britannic and Lusitania.

It would be one thing to lay a single plaque on the Titanic as a tribute to the tragedy, but it seems every single expedition feels the need to leave their mark and explain why they are the best and most poetic at memorializing the ship. At some point, it starts to look like litter.