A lawsuit in the wake of the Titan submersible disaster has claimed all the passengers on board would have known they were going to die shortly before the vessel imploded, killing them all.
On June 18, 2023, the OceanGate's Titan submersible embarked on its first planned dive of the year, heading to the wreckage of the Titanic with five crew members on board.
On it's descent, around 320 nautical miles (590 km) south-southeast off the coast of Newfoundland, the vessel lost contact with its mothership, the Polar Prince, and failed to resurface at the time it was expected to, leading to vast search efforts being launched to try and locate it in case it had reached the surface in a different location.
On board were tourists Hamish Harding, Shahzada Dawood, his son Suleman Dawood, crew member and Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet, and OceanGate founder Stockton Rush, who was the pilot of the sub.
Tragically, on June 22, 2023, it was confirmed that the submersible had imploded, killing all five people on board instantly.
However, new details revealed in a lawsuit brought about by the estate of French explorer Nargeolet claims that the men on board would have been aware of their impending deaths once the carbon fiber exterior of the sub began to fail.
Nargeolet's estate is suing OceanGate, the company responsible for building the vessel and launching the expedition, and is seeking over $50 million.
The lawsuit, filed by the administrator of the estate of Paul-Henri Nargeolet in Washington state against OceanGate Inc.; the estate of its co-founder and CEO, Stockton Rush; and other companies, argues that the use of a different material for the body of the craft would have prevented the deadly outcome.
According to reports by NBC News, the lawsuit argues that Rush used carbon fiber for the craft's hull, a material that had not previously been used in submersibles and that he refused certification that could have provided the outside expertise that could have prevented the tragedy.
Tragically, it also claims that those aboard would have likely known they were about to die in the lead-up to the implosion.
The lawsuit, which was filed on Tuesday in King County, states: "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 catastrophic implosion that claimed Nargeolet’s life was due directly to the persistent carelessness, recklessness and negligence" of OceanGate, Rush, and the other defendants, it states.
It claims that OceanGate and the other defendants had ignored warnings from deep-sea diving experts and engineers about the Titan, and that while most modern crewed deep-sea exploration vessels are made from titanium, Rush had rejected that material as unnecessarily heavy, and ordered the hull to be made from carbon fiber instead.
It also claims that Rush declined to have the Titan certified by DNV, a classification organization that advises the maritime industry on safety, and that decision meant that "there were no independent or third-party sources for information or assurance" before the voyage launched.
When pieces of the wreckage were recovered after the incident, many had hoped that the implosion was so instantaneous that those on board would have had no idea they were about to die - however, the lawsuit claims that was likely not the case.
Carbon fiber makes a crackling noise when under pressure, and Rush had allegedly installed an "acoustic safety system" that would detect that crackling and alert the pilot that the vessel was in danger.
The lawsuit adds: "While the exact cause of failure may never be determined, experts agree that the TITAN’s crew would have realized exactly what was happening.
"RUSH’s vaunted 'acoustic safety system' would have alerted the crew that the carbon-fiber hull was cracking under extreme pressure — prompting the pilot to release weight and attempt to abort.
"Common sense dictates that the crew were well aware they were going to die, before dying."
Prior to his death, Nargeolet was known as "Mr Titanic" and was an experienced diver who had completed 37 dives to the famous wreckage.
He had been hired by OceanGate to help direct the Titan to the site where the Titanic lies, due to his familiarity with the location.
After the deadly implosion, OceanGate suspended all exploration and commercial operations.
As well as Nargeolet's estate's lawsuit, the Coast Guard opened a Marine Board of Investigation into the implosion to determine its cause, with a public hearing scheduled for September 16.
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