Tickets for the tours aren't sold from international waters, and countries can still sue someone for breaking their laws outside their territories if they want.
Dude. Do you think that "international waters/airspace" means you can just anything? Consider airlines. What happens if you suddenly drop trou and shat in the aisles? You will be restrained and arrested the moment you land. Similarly, people on ships are bound by the laws their ship is flagged with. In addition, insurance companies won't insure your vessel if you decide to not obey any laws. That alone can destroy your business venture.
Dude. Do you think that “international waters/airspace” means you can just anything? Consider airlines. What happens if you suddenly drop trou and shat in the aisles? You will be restrained and arrested the moment you land.
Cameron is talking about binding the owners not the passengers with his proposed regulations. If I own the airplane I can totally shit on the floor and there is no law to stop me.
Similarly, people on ships are bound by the laws their ship is flagged with.
Exactly, future-risky-sub-owner could simply seek out a country that doesn't adhere to any safety regulations. I imagine there would be many small nations which could have their "Private submarine regulation" laws bought for a relatively small sum of money.
In addition, insurance companies won’t insure your vessel if you decide to not obey any laws. That alone can destroy your business venture.
The insurance angle is a good one, but that would just mean they would have to go uninsured (or self insured) and risk losing clients that have a problem with it.
It is going to be tricky to regulate, but the expedition ship does come back to shore to resupply. They don’t leave the sub adrift on the high seas, they bring it back with them, and I imagine it’s easier to do maintenance on it on dry land, or at least in the protected waters of port.
I honestly don't care much about this topic at all. If people want to go down and get imploded, they should be free to do so. It has zero effect on the rest of the world.