The grieving daughter of a French explorer who died on the doomed Titan submarine says she hasn’t heard from OceanGate in the year since the disaster.
Sidonie Nargeolet’s 77-year-old father Paul-Henri Nergeolet – known as ‘Mr Titanic’ – was one of five killed when the submarine catastrophically imploded on its way to the wreck of the Titanic.
Ahead of tomorrow’s first anniversary, Sidonie, 40, said bosses from the company behind the ill-fated expedition had not even bothered to contact her to express their condolences or even to apologise.
The US privately held business ceased operations in July 2023 weeks after the tragedy that killed its 61-year-old millionaire CEO Stockton Rush.
British billionaire Shahzada, 48, and his son, Rubik’s Cube fanatic Suleman Dawood, 19, and British billionaire explorer Hamish Harding were the other three who died on board the submarine.
Sidonie Nargeolet, 40, says she has heard “nothing” from OceanGate a year since her 77-year-old father Paul-Henri Nergeolet was killed in the Titan submarine disaster.
French deep-sea explorer and Titanic expert was one of five killed when submarine suffered ‘catastrophic implosion’
In an interview with 60 Minutes Australia, Sidonie, wearing a blue T-shirt with a picture of a deep-sea diver on the front, said:[I’ve heard] nothing from them [OceanGate]. No condolences, no “we’re sorry”. Nothing.’
She agreed that it was “extraordinary” not to hear about the Washington company under fire.
An emotional Sidonie broke down in tears as she recalled how her hopes of finding her beloved father alive ended when news broke four days into the search that the submarine had suffered a ‘catastrophic implosion’.
She wiped away a tear and said, “In a way, I had hope, very little, but that he would be alive. It’s harder in a way because it’s a hope for nothing but in a way within four days [I thought] he was still alive.’
She told the Sunday Times that her father died doing what he loved and died “healthy with his mind intact”.
The last time she spoke to him, when he arrived on the Polar Prince – the ship from which the submarine had launched – he was “happy”.
But she was told at 6am that Titan was missing and said she “cried for 10 minutes”.
An emotional Sidonie breaks down in tears as she remembers how her hope of finding her beloved father alive ended
A submersible called the Titan visited the site of the Titanic wreck
Sidonie Nargeolet with her father Paul Henri-Nargeolet, who died on the Titan
The world held its breath as a search and rescue mission began for the submarine, which had only 96 hours of oxygen left.
And on June 22, the US Coast Guard found debris on the Atlantic seafloor that proved the Titan had imploded the same day it sank.
Mr. Nargeolet came as a depth guide and it was his 38th trip to the wreck of the Titanic.
In the 1990s, he left his job with the Navy to explore and retrieve relics – he managed to recover the first objects from the site, some of which he returned to their owners.
He took a total of 5,500 and faced criticism from other explorers, but was “obsessed” and acquired the items to commemorate those who had died.
Ms Nargeolet told the Sunday Times that she had gone on a cruise with her father in the Mediterranean before he sunk her.
“My family made fun of him. They said it was a bit like the Titanic. I didn’t think it was funny then, but now…’ she told the paper.
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 slammed the company behind the submarine and said she stopped communicating with the families after the accident.
She said: ‘This is not normal. The least they could do is express their condolences.’
The tragedy is still “actively” under investigation and it was later revealed that experts had raised concerns with OceanGate about the submarine.
Ms Nargeolet said it was “better” that the firm’s boss, Mr Rush, was no longer around because it would have been “living hell” for him after the disaster for OceanGate Expeditions, which offered $250,000 trips.
In a disturbing interview a month before the disaster, Mr Nargeolet said he was not concerned about the risks to the experimental submarine because “under that kind of pressure you’d be dead before you knew there was a problem”.
His former naval colleagues held a ceremony for him in Toulon and the building of the Naval Diving School was named in his memory.
His daughter told the Sunday Times she had cried every day for the past year, but said: “I think what he has done is beautiful. I think it’s brave.’
The missing Titan submarine was hit by technical problems and accidents on at least six previous occasions before it disappeared, as was later reported.
The former director of marine operations for Project Titan, David Lochridge, was fired from the company in 2018 after raising concerns about its safety.
Firm bosses disagreed with his demands for tighter safety checks on the submarine, including “testing to demonstrate integrity”.
The company also decided against having the vessel “classified”, an industry-wide practice where independent inspectors ensure that vessels meet recognized technical standards.
OceanGate suggested that the search for a classification could take years and would be “the curse of rapid innovation”.
A desperate search has been launched for the submarine after it lost contact with its mother ship and disappeared during an expedition to the wreck of the Titanic on Sunday 18 June 2023.
Lochridge, whose role included overseeing security on the Titan project, urged OceanGate to apply for classification several years ago before being fired over a disagreement over security checks on the vessel.
He also wanted the company to scan the Titan’s hull to “detect potential flaws” rather than “relying on acoustic monitoring” – which would only detect the problem “milliseconds before implosion”.
In a court document filed in 2018, the company’s lawyers said Lochridge’s employment was terminated because he “could not accept” their research and plans, including safety protocols.
OceanGate also claimed that Lochridge “wanted to be fired” and shared confidential information with others and wiped the company’s hard drive. The company said he “refused to accept the truth of the information” about safety from Titan’s chief engineer.
In his report, he said: “As Cyclops 2 (Titan) will be transferred from engineering to operations in the coming weeks, now is the time to properly address items that may pose a safety risk to personnel.
“Verbal communication of the key points I addressed in my attached document has been rejected on several occasions, so I now feel I must file this report so there is an official record.”