The family of French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, on Tuesday filed a $50 million wrongful death lawsuit against OceanGate, the company behind the ill-fated submersible that tragically imploded during an expedition to the Titanic wreck.
Nargeolet was among the five passengers aboard the Titan on June 18, 2023, when it experienced a catastrophic pressure failure, resulting in the deaths of everyone on board.
OceanGate had marketed the voyage as a rare opportunity to witness the Titanic firsthand, charging $250,000 per seat.
Following the disaster, it was revealed that industry experts had raised significant safety concerns about the Titan’s design years prior.
For instance, a 2018 warning from a professional trade group highlighted the potential for “catastrophic” outcomes due to OceanGate’s experimental approach.
Nargeolet, known as “Mr. Titanic” for his 37 dives to the Titanic site, was considered one of the foremost experts on the wreck.
The lawsuit claims that the Titan had a “troubled history” and that OceanGate failed to disclose crucial information about the vessel’s safety and durability.
According to Tony Buzbee, one of the attorneys representing Nargeolet’s estate, “I think it is telling that even though the University of Washington and Boeing had key roles in the design of previous but similar versions of the Titan, both have recently disclaimed any involvement at all in the submersible model that imploded.”
The lawsuit accused OceanGate of hiding the submersible’s defects and misleading Nargeolet, despite his role as part of the vessel’s crew.
It argued that he would not have joined the expedition had he known about the Titan’s issues. Other victims included OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, British businessman Hamish Harding, and Dawood Hercules vice chairman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood.
An OceanGate spokesperson has declined to comment on the lawsuit, which was filed in King County, Washington.
The legal action also critiques Rush’s “devil-may-care approach to safety,” likening it to the disruptive methods of tech industry figures like Steve Jobs and Elon Musk.
The lawsuit highlighted the Titan’s unconventional design, notably its use of a mass-produced Logitech video game controller for piloting, a detail emphasized in a 2022 “CBS Sunday Morning” segment.
The lawsuit further challenged the choice of carbon fiber for the Titan’s hull, noting that deep-sea vessels typically use titanium, which withstands repeated stress better.
Carbon fiber, on the other hand, degrades under pressure. Although an “acoustic safety system” was installed to detect the stress of carbon fiber, the lawsuit claims it was merely a rudimentary failure alert.
Ninety minutes into the dive, at a depth of approximately 3,500 meters, the Titan released weights, signaling an abort attempt, and then lost contact with its support ship.
The lawsuit alleged that the crew would have been aware of the vessel’s imminent failure due to the acoustic system’s alerts and would have experienced severe fear and distress before the submersible ultimately imploded.
The precise cause of the Titan’s failure remains uncertain, with an ongoing U.S. Coast Guard investigation that includes a key public hearing scheduled for September.
