Titanic Sub Explorer's Family Sues OceanGate For $50M
The Facts
The family of Paul-Henri Nargeolet, a French explorer who died in a submersible implosion last year, has filed a $50M wrongful-death lawsuit against the vessel's operator OceanGate Expeditions.
Nargeolet was one of the Titan submersible's five passengers that imploded during a voyage to explore the Titanic wreckage site in the North Atlantic last June.
The Spin
OceanGate's gross negligence, persistent recklessness, and devil-may-care approach caused its experimental and troubled submersible to implode and kill unsuspecting explorers who paid a bomb for an eight-day adventure. A seasoned veteran of underwater exploration, Nargeolet died doing what he loved to do — but from wrongful death. OceanGate must pay for keeping him in the dark and making him suffer from pre-death terror and mental anguish.
Every person who signs up for deepwater exploration knows its inherent risks. The waters the Titan got lost in were the same that swallowed thousands of lives on the Titanic. While the exact point of failure on the Titan may never be known, the tragic fate of its five passengers should inspire a new era of regulation for adventure tourism, including having a classification agency inspect and certify such dark, unpredictable, and dangerous tours.
Deep-sea exploration is an adventurous game for the ultra-wealthy to play in their free time. While the death of the Titan's passengers is tragic and must be investigated, it's time to leave the Titanic alone. Disruptive profiteering actions, including OceanGate's, are robbing over 1.5K souls of their opportunity to rest in peace. The abnormal hunger for extreme adrenaline rushes mustn't replace the passion for exploring and protecting the world's oceans.