On June 28, 2023, fragments of the Titan submersible recovered from the seafloor were unloaded from the Arctic Horizon ship at the Canadian Coast Guard pier in St. John’s, Newfoundland.
Paul Daly/The Canadian Press/Associated Press
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Paul Daly/The Canadian Press/Associated Press
The family of a French explorer who died when a submersible imploded has filed a more than $50 million lawsuit, saying the crew suffered “horror and mental anguish” in the lead-up to the disaster and accusing the submarine operator of gross negligence.
Paul-Henri Nargeolet was one of five people killed when the Titan submersible imploded in June 2023 on its way to the famous Titanic wreck site in the North Atlantic. .
The lawsuit states that Nagiole, known as “Mr. Titanic,” participated in 37 live dives on the Titanic, making him the most diver in the world. He is considered one of the people in the world who knows the most about the famous shipwreck. Lawyers for his estate said in an emailed statement that the “doomed submersible” had a “troubled history” and that OceanGate had failed to disclose key facts about the vessel and its durability.
According to the lawsuit, the Titan “dropped” about 90 minutes into the dive, indicating that the team had aborted or attempted to abort the dive.
“While the exact cause of the failure may never be determined, experts agree that the crew of the Titan should have realized what exactly happened,” the lawsuit states. “Common sense tells us that the crew members knew they were aware of what was going on before they died. About to die.”
The lawsuit goes on to say: “The crew likely heard the crackling of carbon fiber become more intense as the weight of water pressed against Titan’s hull. The crew lost communications and perhaps power. According to expert estimates, they With full knowledge of the ship’s irreversible failure, they continued their descent, experiencing fear and mental anguish before the Titan finally imploded.
A spokesman for OceanGate declined to comment on the lawsuit, which was filed Tuesday in King County, Washington. Court documents say the defendants must respond to the complaint in the coming weeks. The lawsuit says Nagiolet was an employee of OceanGate and a crew member on the Titan.
The lawsuit also criticizes Titan’s “sleek, modern, wireless electronic systems, noting that no controller, control device or instrument will function without constant power and a wireless signal.”
Lawyers with Buzbee Law Firm in Houston, Texas, said in a statement that although OceanGate designated Nargeolet as a crew member, “many details regarding the ship’s flaws and shortcomings were not disclosed and were deliberately withheld.”
Tony Buzbee, one of the attorneys on the case, said one of the goals of the lawsuit is “to get answers for the family about how this happened, who was involved, and How did anyone involved allow this to happen.
In the aftermath of the disaster, there were concerns whether Titan was doomed because of its unconventional design and its creators’ refusal to undergo industry-standard independent inspections. Its implosion has also raised questions about the viability and future of private deep-sea exploration.
The U.S. Coast Guard quickly convened a high-level investigation, which is still ongoing. Key public hearings as part of the inquiry are scheduled for September.
Titan made its final dive on Sunday morning, June 18, 2023, and lost contact with the support ship approximately two hours later. After a search and rescue mission that attracted worldwide attention, the wreckage of the Titanic was found on the ocean floor about 984 feet (300 meters) from the Titanic’s bow and about 435 miles (700 kilometers) south of St. John’s. Newfoundland.
OceanGate CEO and co-founder Stockton Rush was operating Titan when it exploded. The lawsuit describes Rush as “an eccentric and self-proclaimed ‘innovator’ in the deep-sea diving industry” and names his estate as one of the defendants.
In addition to Lashi and Nargoolet, the implosion also killed the British adventurer Hamish Harding and two members of a prominent Pakistani family, Shahzada Daoud and his son Suleiman. Daoud.
The company that owns the rights to salvage the Titanic is making its first voyage to the wreck site in years. Last month, Georgia-based RMS Titanic launched its first expedition since 2010 from Providence, Rhode Island.
Nargeolet was Titanic’s director of underwater research. He served on a Titanic site expedition in 1987 shortly after the ship’s location was discovered and oversaw the salvage of numerous Titanic artifacts, the lawsuit says. Lawyers for his estate 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 blames the outbreak on “continued carelessness, recklessness and negligence” by Oceangate, Rush and other companies.
“The late Nagiolet may have died while doing what he loved, but his death — and the deaths of the rest of the Titan crew — was wrongful,” the lawsuit states.
