Adrenaline junkies, derisk your lives

On Friday, a robotic diving vehicle discovered the debris of the submersible Titan on the seabed at a depth of 12,500 ft in the North Atlantic. Titan, which started its journey last Sunday with 5 crew members, was lying some 1,600 ft from the bow of the RMS Titanic, the infamous ‘unsinkable’ British luxury steamship that sank in 1912 after hitting an iceberg. Titan, owned by OceanGate, had a pilot, 3 paying guests and a ‘content expert’. The extreme adventure did not come cheap. Tickets cost $250,000 a pop. For all the adrenaline rush, money and adventure, the crew could view the wreck of the Titanic only through a porthole the size of a washing machine window. Was it worth it?

Yes, all adventures have an element of risk. For many, that is the rush. OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, who was piloting Titan, had earlier said, ‘Safety just is pure waste… if you want to be safe, don’t get out of bed.’ A poor choice of words. A poor choice of inaction. Worldwide, extreme tourism is on the rise. Today, if you have the money, you can take 24-day private jet tours around the world, attempt to climb Mt Everest even if you are not a mountaineer, and travel to space. Last week, space tourism company Virgin Galactic announced it would launch its first commercial flight before the end of this month.

But the sad end of Titan and the five deaths, or the annual photos of a ‘traffic jam’ on the world’s highest peak, spring a fundamental question: are such extreme adventures worth it for the non-professional whose only asset is the ability to pay? No matter how well-prepared the mission is, mishaps can happen. The ‘natural’ world is unpredictable. But, then, like other things in life, there is no straight answer. But one should ensure maximum derisk.