Descendants of Titanic victims say adventurers should stop new visits to wreck

Relatives of passengers and crew who were on the Titanic have said the wreckage should be left ‘in peace’ following yesterday’s news that all five passengers on the submersible were killed when their craft imploded.

More than 1,500 passengers and crew lost their lives in April 1912 after the Titanic struck an iceberg and sank.

Helen Richardson, 40, from Norfolk, is the great-great-granddaughter of Christopher Arthur Shulver, a Titanic firefighter who survived the sinking before dying in an explosion on the RMS Adriatic, another White Star Liner, in 1922.

Speaking to MailOnline, Ms Richardson said: ‘He should be left alone. It is a site where all those poor people lost their lives, and a tragic site even for those who survived.

It was announced yesterday that the five wealthy passengers aboard Titan – which was created by US company OceanGate and was on its way to view the wreckage in the Atlantic – all perished when the craft imploded.

The victims were British billionaire Hamish Harding, OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, French Navy veteran PH Nargeolet and wealthy Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman.

The news came after Titan debris was found near the wreckage of the Titanic by a distant submarine, confirming that all five men had lost their lives.

Helen Richardson (left), 40, from Norfolk, is the great-great-granddaughter of Christopher Arthur Shulver (right), a Titanic firefighter who survived the sinking before dying in an explosion on the RMS Adriatic, another White Star Liner, in 1922

OceanGate offered wealthy tourists the chance to see the Titanic for $250,000 per person.

Englishman Percy Thomas Ward, a room steward on the ‘unsinkable’ luxury ship, was among those who lost his life

A former passenger on the same submersible that imploded said he signed a waiver that listed “three ways to die on the front page.”

The deaths of the five passengers this month have raised questions about whether or not expeditions should take place.

Englishman Percy Thomas Ward, a room steward on the ‘unsinkable’ luxury vessel, was among those who lost his life.

Writing on a Facebook group for relatives of the victims, his great-granddaughter Anna Roberts said: ‘I regret that the Titanic has become a tourist attraction. It is a cemetery and it must be left in peace and respect.

A relative of another victim urged divers to “leave these poor souls to have eternal rest”.

Ms Richardson, who said Shulver looked ‘exactly’ like her own father, added: ‘We now have these great scans and recovered artifacts, so now we have to be respectful. This is where they were buried.

“It’s not a show to go see where people have lost their lives.”

Shulver testified at the inquest into the sinking of the Titanic that he had spent the entire voyage before the disaster putting out a fire in the coal bunker of one of the ship’s boiler rooms.

Anna Roberts, great-great-granddaughter of Titanic’s room steward Percy Ward, said: ‘I regret that the Titanic has become a tourist attraction. It is a cemetery and must be left in peace and respect’

Brett Gladstone, whose great-great-grandmother was killed on the Titanic, said Interior Edition: ‘I have always been uncomfortable with exploitation from below.

More than a thousand people died. My great-great-grandmother’s body was never found, it lies at the bottom.

“His soul and the souls of a thousand people remain in some kind of cemetery.”

John Locascio, whose uncles perished on the Titanic, told CNN: “I liken it to looking inside a tomb. I mean people died there tragically, very tragically.

‘Why make it a place where people go to see?

‘Why, why do you have to do this? Let people rest.

Shelly Binder, whose great-grandmother Leah Aks and great-uncle F. Philip Aks survived the 1912 disaster, recounted The sun“For those who have lost family members, they still see it as a burial place and they think it’s corny and odious to go there.”

She added: “It’s awful. And you can see the wreckage without having to physically go there yourself.

‘Is there really a lot they were going to see looking out those windows?’

It comes after the OceanGate co-founder said the regulations surrounding visits to the wreckage of the Titanic are “difficult to navigate”.

Guillermo Sohnlein said there are regulations in place regarding submersibles but they are “sparse” and “outdated” as he defended the company against critics including Titanic film director James Cameron.

‘Why, why do you have to do this? Let the people rest,” John Locascio and his wife Angelica Harris. Locascio’s uncles, who were brothers, died in the 1912 disaster

Shelly Binder, whose great-grandmother Leah Aks and great-uncle F. Philip Aks survived the 1912 disaster, said it was ‘horrific’ to visit the wreck

Mr Cameron, who is an expert on submersibles himself and has done deep-sea dives, told the BBC: ‘We now have another wreck which unfortunately relies on the same principles of disregarding the warnings.”

But Mr Sohnlein defended the safety of the submersible, saying he and his co-founder Stockton Rush, who was aboard Titan, were committed to safety on expeditions.

He told Times Radio: ‘He was extremely committed to security. He was also extremely diligent in managing risk and was acutely aware of the dangers of operating in a deep ocean environment.

“So that’s one of the main reasons I agreed to do business with him in 2009.”

Mr Sohnlein, who no longer works for the company, continued: “I know from first-hand experience that we were extremely committed to safety and security and that risk mitigation was a key part of the culture. of the business.”

Explaining the regulations surrounding visiting the wreck of the Titanic, he said: “The regulations are quite sparse. And many of them are outdated, or they are designed for specific cases.

“So it’s quite difficult to navigate these regulatory regimes.”