‘Titanic’ Director James Cameron Says 'The Similarity' Between Titanic Disaster and Submersible Deaths Is 'Astonishing'

OceanGate announced the 5 passengers aboard the 'Titan' were presumed dead Thursday

James Cameron is reacting to the presumed deaths of the five passengers on board the Titan.

The director of the Titanic movie told ABC News Thursday that the diving community was “deeply concerned” about the submersible’s safety even before Sunday's expedition.

“A number of the top players in the deep submergence engineering community even wrote letters to the company, saying that what they were doing was too experimental to carry passengers and that it needed to be certified,” he claimed.

Related: 5 'Titan' Sub Passengers Are Dead, OceanGate Says: They 'Have Sadly Been Lost'

After reports discovered Titan debris was found, indicating the crew inside was dead, Cameron said he couldn’t help but connect the circumstances of the presumed catastrophe to that of the Titanic. 

“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 on a moonless night and many people died as a result,” he said.

“For us, it’s a very similar tragedy where warnings went unheeded,” the Canadian director surmised. “To take place at the same exact site with all the diving that’s going on all around the world, I think it’s just astonishing. It’s really quite surreal.”

Cameron, 68, is not only a filmmaker but an experienced diver, reportedly completing 33 trips to the ship’s wreckage site in his life.

On Thursday afternoon, OceanGate announced that the 5 people onboard a missing submersible, which lost contact with their main ship less than two hours into the eight-hour expedition, have died.

"We now believe that our CEO Stockton Rush, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood, Hamish Harding, and Paul-Henri Nargeolet, have sadly been lost," the company said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE.

Related: Coast Guard Says 'Debris Field' Discovered Near 'Titanic' amid Search for Missing 'Titan' Sub

"These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world’s oceans. Our hearts are with these five souls and every member of their families during this tragic time. We grieve the loss of life and joy they brought to everyone they knew," the statement continued.

In a press conference on Thursday, the U.S. Coast Guard confirmed that an ROV discovered debris 1,600 feet from the bough of the tailbone of the Titanic wreckage on the sea floor.

The Coast Guard said that the debris that they found was consistent with the catastrophic loss of pressure in the 'Titan' chamber.

"This is an extremely sad time for our dedicated employees who are exhausted and grieving deeply over this loss," read the company statement. "The entire OceanGate family is deeply grateful for the countless men and women from multiple organizations of the international community who expedited wide-ranging resources and have worked so very hard on this mission."

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"We appreciate their commitment to finding these five explorers, and their days and nights of tireless work in support of our crew and their families. This is a very sad time for the entire explorer community, and for each of the family members of those lost at sea," the statement concluded. "We respectfully ask that the privacy of these families be respected during this most painful time."

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