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LOVED ones are still grieving one year after the Titan submarine tragedy took five lives — and still wondering what went wrong.
The grieving daughter of 77-year-old Paul-Henri Nergeolet — known by friends as Mr. Titanic for his encyclopedic knowledge of the ill-fated ship — said she has not heard from OceanGate, the company behind the calamity, since she lost her father a year ago.
Five people died one year ago when OceanGate’s Titan submarine imploded hundreds of feet underwater[/caption]
Sidonie Nargeolet, daughter of the late Paul Henri-Nargeolet, says the company behind her father’s death has not reached out since the tragedy[/caption]
The small group was on a deep-sea exploration trip to visit the wreckage of the Titanic[/caption]
OceanGate shut down just weeks after its CEO Stockton Rush and the submarine’s four passengers were killed on June 18, 2023.
All were crushed and killed instantly when the experimental sub imploded at about 12,500 feet underwater.
Sidonie Nargeolet, 40, spoke about her late father and the questions that remain surrounding his death in a rare interview with 60 Minutes Australia.
She claimed that the now-defunct business never updated her with the findings of any investigations about the wreck or even reached out to offer their apologies for what happened.
“[I’ve heard] nothing from them [OceanGate]. No condolences, no ‘we are sorry.’ Nothing,” she told 60 Minutes Australia.
The other travelers who lost their lives included British billionaire Hamish Harding, 58, British-Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his 19-year-old son Suleman.
Sidonie said she thought it was “extraordinary” that the company had not contacted her or the other families.
AN UPDATE FROM THE US COAST GUARD
While OceanGate has failed to make a public statement about the deaths since last summer, the US Coast Guard made a statement about their investigation last week.
Officials said they are still “actively investigating” the factors that led to the catastrophe, according to Fox News.
“The investigation into the implosion of the Titan submersible is a complex and ongoing effort,” said the Coast Guard’s Marine Board Investigation Chair Jason Neubauer.
“We are working closely with our domestic and international partners to ensure a comprehensive understanding of the incident.”
The Coast Guard had originally said they expected the investigation to be completed by this point but explained in the update that extenuating circumstances have extended their timeline.
“We’re grateful for the international and inter-agency cooperation which has been vital in recovering, preserving, and forensically testing evidence from a remote offshore region and extreme depth,” Neubauer said.
“The MBI is committed to ensuring that we fully understand the factors that led to this tragedy in order to prevent similar occurrences in the future.”
“As the one-year anniversary date approaches, the MBI extends its deepest condolences to the families and friends of the five individuals who lost their lives during the incident,” they added.
Sidonie still mourns the loss of her father[/caption]
Victims of the Titan tragedy, from left: Shahzada Dawood, Suleman Dawood, Paul-Henri Nargeolet, Stockton Rush, and Hamish Harding[/caption]
MEMORIES STILL PAINFUL
Wearing a T-shirt with the image of a deep-sea diver on the front, Sidonie choked back tears as she recounted how it felt to learn of her father’s fate.
The submarine began experiencing issues shortly after beginning its descent, and then abruptly lost contact with the ship on the surface.
Neither the ship’s crew nor loved ones knew what had befallen the submarine during this period.
“In a way I had hope, very small, but of him being alive. In a way, it’s more difficult because it is hope for nothing but during four days [I thought] he was still alive,” Sidonie said.
The missing sub quickly grasped the world’s attention as experts explained that the lost divers would have a maximum of 96 hours of oxygen inside the small sub.
But as the hours ticked by and multiple marine observers reported registering a loud and unknown sound going off within the search area, hope began running out.
The 96-hour air limit came and went, and rescuers began finding shreds of wreckage just a few meters away from the ghostly skeleton of the Titanic, thousands of feet underwater.
How the Titan tragedy unfolded
ONE year ago, five men plunged beneath the surface of the North Atlantic in a homemade sub in the hopes of exploring the Titnaic wreckage.
But what was supposed to be a short trip spiraled into days of agony as the doomed Titan vanished without a trace on June 18, 2023.
The daring mission had been months in the making – and almost didn’t happen at the hands of harsh weather conditions in Newfoundland, Canada.
In a now chilling Facebook post, passenger Hamish Harding wrote: “Due to the worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years, this mission is likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023.
“A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow.”
It would be his final Facebook post.
The following morning, he and four others – led by Stockton Rush – began the 12,5000ft descent towards the bottom of the Atlantic.
But as it made its way down into the depths, the vessel lost all contact with its mother ship of the surface, the Polar Prince.
It sparked a frantic four-day search for signs of life, with the hunt gripping the entire world.
There was hope that by some miracle, the crew was alive and desperately waiting to be saved.
But that sparked fears rescue teams were in a race against time as the sub only had a 96-hour oxygen supply when they set out, which would be quickly dwindling.
Then, when audio of banging sounds was detected under the water, it inspired hope that the victims were trapped and signaling to be rescued.
It heartbreakingly turned out that the banging noises were likely either ocean noises or from other search ships, the US Navy determined.
Countries around the world deployed their resources to aid the search, and within days the Odysseus remote-operated vehicle (ROV) was sent down to where the ghostly wreck of the Titanic sits.
The plan was for the ROV to hook onto the sub and bring it up 10,000ft, where it would meet another ROV before heading to the surface.
But any hopes of a phenomenal rescue were dashed when Odysseus came across a piece of debris from the sub around 1,600ft from the Titanic.
The rescue mission tragically then became a salvage task, and the heartbroken families of those on board were told the devastating news.
It was confirmed by the US Coast Guard that the sub suffered a “catastrophic implosion”.
An investigation into the disaster is ongoing.
OceanGate has suspended all its operations.
WHAT WAS THE TITAN SUBMARINE?
The Titan was a specially-made superlight submarine made of carbon fiber and titanium.
An eight-day tour in the 20-foot-long vessel had a starting price of $250,000, according to an archived version of the company’s website.
The company specialized in offering expeditions to rarely-seen spots miles underneath the ocean’s surface — like the Titanic wreckage.
Their late CEO said his main worry was that the sub — created by OceanGate but steered by a gaming controller — would get trapped under the water.
“What I worry about most are things that will stop me from being able to get to the surface,” Rush told CBS.
“Overhangs, fish nets, entanglement hazards.”
“We run the whole thing with this game controller,” he explained, adding there were also several Camper World LED lights installed inside.
Rush was asked if the sub had “elements of MacGyvery jerryriggedness.”
He responded that the pressure vessel was created in collaboration with Boeing, NASA, and the University of Washington.
“That part, once the pressure vessel is — you’re certain it’s not going to collapse on everybody, everything else can fail,” Rush said.
“It doesn’t matter. Your thrusters can go. Your lights can go. All these things can fail. You’re still going to be safe.”
“You know, there’s a limit. You know, at some point, safety just is pure waste,” he said.
“I don’t think it’s very dangerous, if you look at submersible activity over the last three decades, there hasn’t even been a major injury, let alone a fatality.”
CHILLING AUDIO
According to US Navy officials, “an acoustic anomaly consistent with an implosion” was heard just hours after the sub lost contact with its primary ship.
A spokesman for the US Coast Guard later said that debris found in the search was “consistent with the catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber”.
“An ROV, or remote operated vehicle, from the vessel Horizon Arctic discovered the tail cone of the Titan submersible approximately 1,600 feet from the bow of the Titanic,” Rear Admiral John Mauger told a press conference in Boston days after the sub’s disappearance.
The ROV subsequently found additional debris. In consultation with experts from within the unified command, the debris is consistent with the catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber,” Mauger added.
“Upon this determination, we immediately notified the families.”
“On behalf of the United States Coast Guard and the entire unified command, I offer my deepest condolences to the families. I can only imagine what this has been like for them.”
“And I hope that this discovery provides some solace during this difficult time,” he said.
