Family of French explorer who died in US Titan tragedy sue for $50m
Paul-Henri Nargeolet, nicknamed ‘Mr Titanic’ due to his decades-long interest in the famous wreck, was one of five people who died in the disaster
OceanGate Expeditions charged $250,000 for a place in the submersible but suspended activities after the tragedy, in which its founder Stockton Rush also died
gg5795/Shutterstock
The family of a French explorer who died when the submersible he was travelling in imploded is suing the company for US$50 million after claiming ‘gross negligence’ and ‘wrongful death’.
Paul-Henri Nargeolet, nicknamed ‘Mr Titanic’ due to his decades-long interest in the wreck, was one of five people who died when the submersible Titan, which belonged to the tourism company OceanGate Expeditions, imploded soon after it set off.
Contact to the submersible was lost less than two hours after the vessel dived. It was not immediately obvious what had happened, but further investigations - including by the US Coast Guard - found debris on the seabed, and established implosion as the probable outcome.
Now, one of Mr Nargeolet’s family lawyers, Tony Buzbee, has announced that the family is suing the company for US$50 million (around €45.7 million), at a court in Seattle, Washington (north-west United States).
The Titan was a small craft, measuring about 6.5 m. It dived on June 18, 2023, in a bid to observe the wreck of the Titanic, the famous White Star Line ship that hit an iceberg and sank in 1912. The wreck is located 4,000 metres underwater, at the bottom of the North Atlantic, 400 nautical miles (740 km) off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.
Shortly after diving, the craft imploded, killing all five people on board. As well as Mr Nargeolet, also killed were Stockton Rush, the American founder of OceanGate Expeditions; British businessman Hamish Harding, leading Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, and his son, Suleman.
Another of Mr Nargeolet’s family lawyers, Matt Shaffer, claimed: “Stockton Rush was not forthcoming with the crew and passengers about the dangers of which he and many others were aware.”
Mr Buzbee said: "We hope that, through this trial, we will get answers for the family as to exactly what happened, who was involved and how these people could have let this happen.”
He added that the family team believed that there was “evidence of serious problems with the submersible”.
Mr Nargeolet had devoted his life to visiting the wreck of the Titanic. He had travelled to the wreck six times between 1987 and 2010, and had brought more than 5,000 objects from the wreck to the surface.
OceanGate Expeditions charged $250,000 for a place in the submersible. It suspended its activities after the tragedy, and it emerged that there had allegedly been concern over its safety policies in the past.
