What's New  

Family Of Diver Files $50 Million Lawsuit Over Titanic Submersible Disaster

By Odunmorayo Oke

08 August 2024   |   9:53 am

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on WhatsApp Share on Telegram

The family of renowned French diver, Paul-Henri Nargeolet, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the company behind the ill-fated Titan submersible expedition to the Titanic wreckage site. A wrongful death lawsuit is a legal action filed by the family of a person who died due to the negligence of another party. What happened to…

The family of renowned French diver, Paul-Henri Nargeolet, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the company behind the ill-fated Titan submersible expedition to the Titanic wreckage site. A wrongful death lawsuit is a legal action filed by the family of a person who died due to the negligence of another party.

What happened to the submersible

Nargeolet, affectionately known as “Mr. Titanic” for his unparalleled expertise on the shipwreck, perished alongside four others when the experimental Titan submersible imploded during its dive to the ocean floor in June 2023.

Claims in the lawsuit

The lawsuit accuses the expedition’s organiser, OceanGate, and its founder Richard Stockton Rush, of “persistent carelessness, recklessness and negligence” leading to Nargeolet’s death.

According to the lawsuit, Nargeolet had participated in 37 previous dives to the Titanic site, more than any other diver. He was hired by OceanGate to act as a navigator on the doomed expedition.

Other people that died in the submersible

The implosion of the Titan also claimed the lives of Rush, British billionaire Hamish Harding. As well as Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, and his son Sulaiman.

The lawsuit alleges that OceanGate and Rush misled Nargeolet about the safety of the Titan. Even as experts had warned the company’s founder of the submersible’s dangers.

The Titan was constructed from carbon fiber. It is a lightweight but problematic material that degrades under intense pressure. Rather than the more robust titanium typically used in commercial submersibles.

More claims in the lawsuit

The family’s attorneys claim that OceanGate attempted to portray the Titan’s monitoring system, designed to detect cracks in the carbon fiber hull, as an advanced safety feature. However, the lawsuit argues that this system likely only served to inform the crew of their impending doom without providing any means of rescue.

READ ALSO: Nigeria Ranks 9th Among Top 10 Most Promising African Countries For Investment

“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 family writes in the lawsuit. “Common sense dictates that the crew were well aware they were going to die, before dying.”

The lawsuit also criticises OceanGate’s reliance on a Logitech video game controller and Bluetooth connectivity to pilot the Titan. Which the family says was an unconventional and unreliable approach to deep-sea exploration.

“The family names OceanGate and Rush’s estate as defendants. As well as the company’s former director of engineering Tony Nissen, and the companies Hydrospace Group, Janicki Industries and Electroimpact for their role in the design and manufacturing of the Titan,” the statement said.

In the aftermath of the tragedy, OceanGate has ceased all operations. The search for answers has become the focus of this lawsuit. The Nargeolet family is seeking more than $50 million in damages and a jury trial. They hope to uncover the full truth behind the Titan’s fatal implosion.