Daughter of Titanic expert killed in Titan sub implosion says dives to see famed shipwreck should continue
The daughter of the French Titanic expert who died in the Titan submersible implosion last summer slammed the ill-fated sub’s creator for not reaching out to her family following the tragedy — but said trips to the famous shipwreck should continue.
Sidonie Nargeolet, the 40-year-old daughter of the deep-sea explorer known as “Mr. Titanic,” Paul-Henri Nargeolet, says no one at OceanGate offered condolences after her father perished aboard the submersible as it approached the wreckage of the Titanic on June 18, 2023.
“My anger is mostly because no one from OceanGate contacted us to say we are sorry for your loss,” Nargeolet told Pen News. “At least I think they could have contacted us to say we are sorry for your loss.”
Despite her father’s ill fate, Nargeolet said she believes the expeditions 12,500 feet below sea level off the coast of Newfoundland to the famed wreck should continue.
“I think they have to do it,” she said. “We don’t have to make a confusion with a bad sub and a good one, you know?”
She added: “I think it’s good that people go on the sub and it’s good to take artifacts from the Titanic, but just not to play with security, the lives of people.”
Her father perished aboard the doomed sub alongside Pakastani-British businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son, Suleman, British businessman and aviator Hamish Harding; and the pilot and founder of OceanGate, Stockton Rush.
Nargeolet said she had no idea the dive might be dangerous, as her father had been diving her entire life.
“I have always been used to it, so I think it was like normal to me,” she said, later noting that her father told her it was a new kind of sub, but didn’t mention being worried about it.
Even after the sub lost radio contact, Nargeolet said, she remained hopeful that the vessel would be located and her father would return home safely.
“I don’t know if it was because there was really a hope or because it’s my dad and I didn’t want to think he was dead,” she recalled.
“We heard it was all done, but it’s really hard to to realize because we don’t see any body, you know?
So it’s like he’s gone — okay, but we have nothing to say goodbye to.”
Her father was the director of underwater research for RMS Titanic, which owns salvage rights to the famous ocean liner’s wreckage.
He had previously led 37 successful expeditions to the site, supervised the recovery of thousands of artifacts, and was considered to have spent more time at the wreck than anyone else.
Officials are still investigating the evidence recovered from its missions and the allegations made against OceanGate ahead of an anticipated public hearing on the incident.
Following the tragedy, OceanGate said it would suspend “all exploration and commercial operations,” shutting down its website and social media pages.
An OceanGate representative also said it contacted the Nargeolet family after the accident.
