The family of a French explorer who died in a submersible implosion has filed a lawsuit exceeding $50 million, alleging that the crew endured "terror and mental anguish" before the disaster and accusing the sub’s operator of gross negligence.
Paul-Henri Nargeolet was among the five individuals who lost their lives when the Titan submersible imploded during a June 2023 voyage to the Titanic wreck site in the North Atlantic. The experimental submersible, owned by OceanGate, a Washington state-based company that has since suspended operations, left no survivors.
Known as “Mr. Titanic,” Nargeolet had completed 37 dives to the Titanic site, more than any other diver, according to the lawsuit. He was widely recognized as one of the world’s foremost experts on the wreck. Attorneys for his estate claimed in a statement that the “doomed submersible” had a “troubled history” and accused OceanGate of failing to disclose critical information about the vessel's durability.
The lawsuit states that the Titan “dropped weights” approximately 90 minutes into its dive, suggesting the crew had aborted or attempted to abort the mission.
“While the exact cause of failure may never be determined, experts agree that the Titan’s crew would have realized exactly what was happening,” the lawsuit asserts. “Common sense dictates that the crew was fully aware of their impending death before it occurred.”
The lawsuit further claims that the crew may have heard the carbon fiber hull's crackling noises intensify under the pressure of the ocean's depths. As communications and possibly power were lost, the crew likely descended, fully aware of the vessel’s irreversible failures, experiencing terror and mental anguish before the Titan ultimately imploded.
A spokesperson for OceanGate declined to comment on the lawsuit, which was filed Tuesday in King County, Washington. The defendants are required to respond in the coming weeks, according to court documents. The lawsuit identifies Nargeolet as an OceanGate employee and a crew member on the Titan.
The lawsuit also criticizes the Titan’s “hip, contemporary, wireless electronics system,” arguing that the sub’s controls and gauges would not function without a constant power source and wireless signal.
Despite Nargeolet's designation as a crew member, the attorneys, from the Buzbee Law Firm in Houston, Texas, argue that many of the vessel’s flaws and shortcomings were not disclosed and were deliberately concealed.
Attorney Tony Buzbee, representing the case, stated that one of the lawsuit's goals is to “get answers for the family about how this happened, who was involved, and how those involved could have allowed this to occur.”
Following the disaster, concerns emerged about whether the Titan's unconventional design and its creator's refusal to undergo standard independent checks in the industry contributed to its fate. The implosion also sparked broader questions about the future and safety of private deep-sea exploration.
The U.S. Coast Guard has initiated a high-level investigation, which is ongoing. A key public hearing as part of this investigation is scheduled for September.
The Titan embarked on its final dive on Sunday, June 18, 2023, losing contact with its support vessel about two hours later. A global search and rescue mission followed, ultimately leading to the discovery of the Titan’s wreckage on the ocean floor, approximately 984 feet (300 meters) from the Titanic’s bow, about 435 miles (700 kilometers) south of St. John’s, Newfoundland.
OceanGate CEO and cofounder Stockton Rush was piloting the Titan when it imploded. The lawsuit describes Rush as “an eccentric and self-styled ‘innovator’ in the deep-sea diving industry” and names his estate as one of the defendants.
In addition to Rush and Nargeolet, the implosion claimed the lives of British adventurer Hamish Harding, along with Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood, members of a prominent Pakistani family.
RMS Titanic Inc., the company holding the salvage rights to the Titanic, has recently embarked on its first voyage to the wreck site in years. In July, the Georgia-based firm launched its first expedition to the site since 2010, departing from Providence, Rhode Island.
Nargeolet, who served as the director of underwater research for RMS Titanic, had been part of an expedition to visit the Titanic site in 1987, shortly after its discovery, and supervised the salvage of numerous Titanic artifacts, according to the lawsuit. His estate’s attorneys described him as a seasoned veteran of underwater exploration who would not have participated in the Titan expedition if the company had been more transparent.
The lawsuit attributes the implosion to the “persistent carelessness, recklessness, and negligence” of OceanGate, Rush, and others.
“Decedent Nargeolet may have died doing what he loved, but his death — and the deaths of the other Titan crew members — was wrongful,” the lawsuit states.
0 Comments