Titan submersible incident: Did it really boost 'My Heart Will Go On' popularity?

Many on the internet have been claiming that the recent Titan submersible incident helped Celine Dion's iconic song "My Heart Will Go On", from James Cameron's Titanic climb music streaming sites like Spotify and Billboard's charts. As per Snopes, this is not true. The song was absent from the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the week of June 24, 2023. It did not appear on the US top 200 daily songs lists on 19 June, 20 June, 21 June, or 22 June. The same applied to Spotify's Global top 200 daily songs lists for those dates, where also the song was not included.

Titan submersible incident

On June 18, 2023, in the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately 400 nautical miles (740 km) off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, Titan, a submersible operated by OceanGate, an American tourism company, suffered a devastating implosion. The purpose of the dive was to explore the wreckage of the Titanic, with a crew of five individuals on board. Contact with Titan was lost after one hour and forty-five minutes into the dive, and it failed to resurface as planned, triggering immediate action by authorities. 

Following an extensive search, a debris field containing parts of the ill-fated Titan has been discovered by a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV), located approximately 1,600 feet (about 500 meters) away from the bow of the Titanic. This discovery was based on declassified sonar data from the US Navy, which indicated an implosion in the area on the day of the incident. As a result, it was concluded that the pressure vessel of the submersible had imploded during its descent, leading to the instantaneous loss of all five crew members.

Prior to the incident, concerns had been raised about the safety of the vessel. OceanGate executives made the decision not to seek certification for Titan, citing that excessive safety protocols hindered innovation. 

Incidentally, Cameron has commented on the incident. During an interview with ABC News, the filmmaker said it is likely that the submersible, after losing all communication with the outside world during its deep-sea mission, was attempting to resurface. He also suggested that the five passengers aboard the vessel were probably aware of the problem before the catastrophic implosion occurred.

"This OceanGate sub had sensors on the inside of the hull to give them a warning when it was starting to crack. And I think, if that's your idea of safety, then you're doing it wrong," he said.

He further explained, "They probably had a warning that their hull was beginning to delaminate and develop cracks." Based on his knowledge within the community, Cameron added, "It's our belief that they had released their ascent weights and were attempting to surface, trying to manage an emergency situation."