The family of a French explorer who died in a submersible implosion has filed a wrongful death lawsuit seeking more than US$50 million ($76 million) accusing the submarine operator of gross negligence.
Paul-Henri Nargeolet was among five people who died when the Titan submersible imploded during a voyage to the famous Titanic wreck site in the North Atlantic in June 2023.
No one survived the trip aboard the experimental submersible owned by OceanGate, a Washington state company that has since suspended operations.
Known as “Mr. Titanic”, Nargeolet had previously visited the Titanic site several times and was considered one of the most knowledgeable people in the world about the famous wreck.
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.
“The lawsuit further alleges that even though Nargeolet had been designated by OceanGate as a member of the vessel’s crew, many details about the vessel’s defects and deficiencies were not disclosed and were deliberately concealed,” they said. the lawyers of Buzbee Law. The Houston, Texas, company said in its statement.
An OceanGate spokesperson declined to comment on the lawsuit, which was filed Tuesday in King County, Washington.
The U.S. Coast Guard quickly mounted a high-level investigation, which remains ongoing.
A key public hearing as part of the inquiry is scheduled for September.
The Titan made its final dive on June 18, 2023, a Sunday morning, and lost contact with its support ship approximately two hours later.
After a search and rescue mission that attracted worldwide attention, the wreckage of the Titan was found on the ocean floor about 300 m from the bow of the Titanic, about 700 km south of St John’s, Newfoundland.
Stockton Rush, CEO and co-founder of OceanGate, was operating the Titan when it imploded.
In addition to Rush and Nargeolet, the implosion killed British adventurer Hamish Harding and two members of a prominent Pakistani family, Shahzada Dawood and her son Suleman Dawood.
