A Kent journalist who covered the mission to discover the wreck of Titanic believes people will continue to explore the site despite this week’s tragedy in the Atlantic.

Canterbury film-maker Peter Williams produced a documentary detailing American oceanographer Robert Ballard’s quest to locate the ill-fated ship, and he believes the site and the vessel’s story will always hold fascination in the public mind.

Mr Williams, who was controller of factual programmes at TVS, was speaking following the deaths of five people who were on board the Titan submersible when it imploded during an attempt to reach the resting place of Titanic in the North Atlantic.

“Deepest sypathy to the families of those who lost their lives,” he said, “that’s the first thing to say.

“The second thing is, I've always had mixed feelings about people wanting to go to the wreck, which after all is a place where hundreds of people died.

“I've always had misgivings about that, and it's fair to say that Robert Ballard, the American who initiated the hunt for the site of the wreck, also has misgivings about that.

“The wreck of the Titanic will always have this fascination. It basically changed the rules, to ensure that there were always going to be enough lifeboats on ocean-going vessels, for both passengers and crew, which was not the case when Titanic went down.

“I've got a feeling that this tragedy will have the same sort of change in strategic thinking for submersibles. I think the certification of submersibles will come under the spotlight.”

During the making of the 1980s film documenting the discovery of the wreck, one of Mr Williams’ colleagues on board the search vessel found a way to demonstrate the sheer power of the sea at the depths where the sunken liner came to rest.

He sent down cups, which were crushed by the extreme pressures and became lasting reminders of the incredible dangers facing anyone who voyages down into the depths of the deep ocean.

“I have a small polystyrene cup, which is no bigger than a thimble,” he said.

“My director, a chap called Graham Hurley, sent down a number of full-size polystyrene cups, which are about eight inches high, and when it came up it was still perfectly formed but it's no longer eight inches high. It's about an inch and a half.

“I think the general public doesn't realise the huge amount of pressure that there is at that depth in the ocean. The fact is we probably know less about what happens of that depth in our oceans than we do about going into space.”

The co-founder of the company which operated the Titan submersible has said the regulations surrounding visits to the wreckage are “tricky to navigate”.

Guillermo Sohnlein, of OceanGate Expeditions, said there are regulations in place surrounding submersibles but they are “sparse” and “antiquated”. He was speaking in defence of the firm, following criticsm from a number of quarters, including from Titanic film director James Cameron.

Mr Sohnlein told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Anyone who operates in that depth of the ocean, whether it is human-rated submersibles or robotic submersibles, knows the risks of operating under such pressure and that at any given moment, on any mission, with any vessel, you run the risk of this kind of implosion.”

Mr Williams believes that despite the tragedy there will always be a desire to travel to the wreck site.

He said: “The fascination with Titanic is ongoing and unstoppable, public curiosity is endless.

“Titanic is a profound example of the arrogance of man, and although the owners themselves said ‘we never said it was unsinkable’, there were many people who did.

“They felt at the thing was unsinkable and I was very friendly with one of the survivors, Eva Hart, whose mother didn't die but her father died on Titanic, and the mother spent every night fully dressed because she felt that Titanic was going to sink. She felt that the claim that the ship was unsinkable was ‘flying in the face of God’.

“How arrogant can man become? Never, never underestimate the power of the sea.”