The grieving daughter of the French explorer who died on the submarine Titan says she has not heard from OceanGate in the year since the disaster.
Sidonie Nargeolet’s father, Paul-Henri Nergeolet, 77, known as ‘Mr. Titanic’, was one of five killed when a submersible catastrophically imploded on its ill-fated journey to the wreckage of the Titanic.
Ahead of tomorrow’s first anniversary, Sidonie, 40, said company bosses behind the ill-fated expedition have not even bothered to contact her to offer their condolences or even apologize.
The private American company stopped operating in July 2023, weeks after the tragedy that killed its millionaire CEO Stockton Rush, 61.
British billionaire Shahzada, 48, and his Rubik’s Cube fanatic son Suleman Dawood, 19, and billionaire British explorer Hamish Harding were the three others who died aboard the submarine.
Sidonie Nargeolet, 40, says she has heard “nothing” from OceanGate in the year since her father Paul-Henri Nergeolet, 77, died in the Titan submarine disaster.
The French deep-sea explorer and Titanic expert was one of five killed when the submersible suffered a ‘catastrophic implosion’
speaking to 60 minutes AustraliaSidonie, who was wearing a blue T-shirt with the image of a deep-sea diver on the front, said: ‘(I haven’t heard) anything from them (OceanGate). No condolences, no ‘we’re sorry’. Nothing.’
He agreed that it was “extraordinary” to have not heard from the under-fire Washington-based company.
An emotional Sidonie broke down in tears as she recalled how her hopes of finding her beloved father alive were ended when, four days into the search, news broke that the submarine had suffered a “catastrophic implosion”.
Wiping away a tear, she said: ‘In a way I had a hope, very small, but that he was alive. In some ways it’s harder because there’s no hope for anything, but in some ways for four days (I thought) he was still alive.’
she told him sunday time his father died doing his favorite activity and he passed away “healthy and with his mind intact.”
The last time she spoke to him when he arrived on the Polar Prince, the ship from which the submarine took off, he was “happy.”
But at 6 a.m. the next day, she was told the Titan was missing and she said she “cried for 10 minutes.”
An emotional Sidonie burst into tears as she remembered how her hopes of finding her beloved father alive were over.
The Titanic submersible used to visit the Titanic wreck site
Sidonie Nargeolet with her father Paul Henri-Nargeolet, who died on the underwater voyage Titan
The world held its breath as the search and rescue mission began for the submarine with only 96 hours of oxygen left.
And on June 22, the US Coast Guard found debris on the Atlantic seafloor showing that the Titan had imploded the same day it submerged.
Mr Nargeolet came as a deep sea guide and it was his 38th trip to the Titanic wreck.
In the 1990s, he left his job in the navy to explore and recover relics, managing to recover the first objects from the site, some of which he returned to their owners.
He took 5,500 in total and faced criticism from other explorers, but he was “obsessed” and recovered the items to honor the memory of those who died.
Nargeolet told the Sunday Times that he sailed with his father around the Mediterranean before he sank it.
‘My family made fun of him. They said he looked a bit like the Titanic. “I didn’t think it was funny at the time, but now…” he told the newspaper.
Mr. Nargeolet (left) and Stockton Rush (right), CEO of OceanGate Expedition
Five people were on board, including British billionaire adventurer Hamish Harding (left), Shahzada Dawood (far right) and his 19-year-old son Suleman (second from left).
His daughter sharply criticized the company behind the submarine and said it stopped communicating with the families after the accident.
She said: ‘That’s not normal. The least they can do is offer their condolences.
The tragedy is still being “actively” investigated and it later emerged that experts had raised concerns with the company OceanGate about the submarine.
Mr Nargeolet said it is “better” that company boss Mr Rush is no longer around as it would have been “hell for him to be alive” after the OceanGate Expeditions disaster, which offered trips for $250,000.
In a disturbing interview a month before the disaster, Nargeolet said the risks to the experimental submarine did not worry him because “under that pressure, you would be dead before you realized there was a problem.”
His former naval colleagues organized a ceremony in his honor in Toulon and a naval diving school building is named in his memory.
Her daughter told the Sunday Times she had cried every day for the past year, but said: “I think what he did is beautiful.” I think he’s brave.”
The missing Titan submarine had suffered technical problems and setbacks on at least six previous occasions before disappearing, it was later reported.
The Titan project’s former director of marine operations, David Lochridge, was fired from the company in 2018 after raising concerns about his safety.
Company bosses disagreed with his demands for more rigorous safety checks on the submersible, including “testing to demonstrate integrity.”
The company also chose not to “grade” the vessel, a widespread industry practice whereby independent inspectors ensure vessels meet accepted technical standards.
OceanGate suggested that seeking classification could take years and would be “anathema to rapid innovation.”
A desperate search was launched for the submarine after it lost contact with its mother ship and disappeared during an expedition to the wreckage of the Titanic on Sunday, June 18, 2023.
Lochridge, whose role included overseeing safety on the Titan project, had urged OceanGate to seek classification several years ago, before he was fired over a disagreement over the ship’s safety controls.
He also wanted the company to conduct a scan of Titan’s hull to “detect potential failures” instead of “relying on acoustic monitoring,” which would only detect a problem “milliseconds before an implosion.”
In a court document filed in 2018, the company’s lawyers said Lochridge’s employment was terminated because he “could not accept” their investigations and plans, including safety protocols.
OceanGate also claimed that Lochridge “wanted to be fired” and had shared confidential information with others and wiped the company’s hard drive. The company said it “refused to accept the veracity of the information” about safety provided by Titan’s chief engineer.
In his report he said: ‘With Cyclops 2 (Titan) moving from Engineering to Operations in the coming weeks, now is the time to properly address items that may pose a risk to personnel safety.
‘Verbal communication of the key points I have made in my attached document has been dismissed on several occasions, so I feel I must now make this report so that there is an official record.’