Titanic tour firm OceanGate sued for $50m by victim’s family for sending explorer on ‘doomed & flawed submersible trip’

THE family of one of the victims of the Titan submersible tragedy is now seeking a wrongful death lawsuit of more than $50 million.

The Titan submersible, owned by OceanGate, imploded last June on a destination visit to see the Titanic wreck in the North Atlantic Ocean.

Paul-Henri Nargeolet was among the five voyagers who died in the submersible when it imploded underwater.

Nargeolet was a French explorer and known in the diving community as "Mr. Titanic."

He participated in 37 dives and was a part of the first expedition to the Titanic in 1937.

Nargeolet's estate argued that OceanGate failed to disclose key facts about the submersible in court documents obtained by The U.S. Sun.

They added that the submersible was "doomed" and had a "troubled history," which wasn't disclosed.

Even though Nargeloet agreed to participate in the voyage, his estate's attorneys are alleging that OceanGate "purposefully concealed" information about the vessel.

"Decedent Nargeolet may have died doing what he loved to do, but his death – and the deaths of the other Titan crew members – was wrongful," the lawsuit reads.

"Rush concealed dangers of which he was aware, specifically providing only certain information to his crew and the public at large."

The attorneys are now hoping to get answers for the family.

OceanGate has suspended operations since the incident.

DOOMED EXPEDITION

Nargeloet embarked on an expedition with OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush and three other explorers - Hamish Harding, Shahzada Dawood, and his 19-year-old son, Suleman Dawood - in the North Atlantic Ocean on June 18, 2023.

The submersible lost contact with its support ship just two hours after beginning its journey.

The story caught global attention as the world waited in anticipation to find the missing five travelers.

Just two days later, the Coast Guard announced that they discovered debris consistent with the submersible.

The US Navy then confirmed that sensors detected a likely implosion that killed the five passengers instantly.

The shocking incident prompted national outrage and a conversation on the dangers of unofficial deep-sea exploration.

The safety of the submersible was immediately called into question and an investigation was launched into OceanGate's safety standards.

Marine experts expressed concerns with the Titan's expeditions as far back as 2018.

Will Kohnen, the chair of the Marine Technology Society's Submarine Committee, said at the time that the Titan's disappearance didn't surprise him.

Kohnen wrote a letter to Rush in 2018 citing "unanimous concern" for his company's missions.

The vessels were not certified by an independent marine agency the submersible only completed 13 out of 90 dives since expeditions began in 2021.

The Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board are still investigating the incident to determine the exact causes of the implosion.

The Coast Guard located the rest of the Titan submersible debris and presumed human remains of the victims in October 2023.

The NTSB, Coast Guard, Marine Board of Investigation, Transportation Safety Review of Canada, and the French Marine Casualty Investigation Authority held a joint evidence review the following November.