(NewsNation) —The family of a French explorer who died in the ill-fated Titan submersible, which imploded under water last year, have filed a wrongful death lawsuit seeking more than $50 million.
The suit was brought forth by the loved ones of Paul-Henri Nargeolet, who was among five people who died in the Titan submersible during a voyage to the Titanic wreck site in the North Atlantic in June 2023.
No one survived the trip aboard the experimental submersible owned by OceanGate, a Washington-based company that was sued on Tuesday.
Claims against the company include gross negligence and strict products liability, among others.
The suit alleges that “key facts” were “concealed” by OceanGate and its founder, Stockton Rush, who also perished in the implosion. These include the “condition and durability” of what they called the “doomed” Titan submersible.
“Many of the particulars about the vessel’s flaws and shortcomings were not disclosed and were purposely concealed,” attorneys for the family said in a statement.
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This photo provided by OceanGate Expeditions shows a submersible vessel named Titan used to visit the wreckage site of the Titanic. In a race against the clock on the high seas, an expanding international armada of ships and airplanes searched Tuesday, June 20, 2023, for the submersible that vanished in the North Atlantic while taking five people down to the wreck of the Titanic. (OceanGate Expeditions via AP) -
A decal on a piece of equipment which reads “Titan” is pictured near a trailer with the OceanGate logo at OceanGate Expedition’s headqurters in the Port of Everett Boat Yard in Everett, Washington, on June 22, 2023. All five people aboard a submersible missing near the wreck of the Titanic died — likely in an instant — after their vessel suffered what the US Coast Guard said June 22, 2023 was a “catastrophic implosion” in the ocean depths. (Photo by Jason Redmond / AFP) (Photo by JASON REDMOND/AFP via Getty Images) -
FILE – This undated image provided by OceanGate Expeditions in June 2021 shows the company’s Titan submersible.
OceanGate, the company that owned the submersible that fatally imploded on its way to explore the wreck of the Titanic said Thursday, July 6, 2023 it has suspended operations. (OceanGate Expeditions via AP, File)
Nargeolet was dubbed “Mr. Titanic” because he had visited the Titanic site numerous times prior to the June 2023 trip and was regarded as one of the world’s most knowledgeable people about the famous wreck.
“We have alleged in the lawsuit that had Stockton Rush (OceanGate’s CEO and founder) been transparent about all the troubles that had been experienced with the Titan, as well as the previous, similar models, someone as experienced and knowledgeable as Paul Henri-Nargeolet would not have participated,” Matt Shaffer, one of the attorneys representing the family, said in a statement.
The Titan made its last dive on June 18, 2023. The craft lost contact with its support vessel an hour and 45 minutes into the dive. Five people were on board, diving 12,000 feet below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean.
The loss of communication launched a four-day search for the vessel, which ended when evidence of an implosion was found on the ocean floor. Officials concluded that the craft had been destroyed and everyone on board was killed.
The implosion also killed British adventurer Hamish Harding and two members of a prominent Pakistani family, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood.
The search-and-recovery mission is estimated to have cost up to $1.6 million.
Few vessels dive that deep into the ocean, and engineers and experts in the field noted previous problems with the Titan and warnings that the submersible was unsafe.
The U.S. Coast Guard quickly convened a high-level investigation into what happened. Concerns leading up to the investigation included the Titan’s unconventional design and its creator’s decision to forgo standard independent checks.
A key public hearing in the investigation is scheduled for September.
NewsNation’s Devan Markham contributed to this story.
