RMS Titanic Inc. probing if ‘cavalier’ Stockton Rush misled them to get PH Nargeolet aboard doomed sub

OceanGate’s safety claims ahead of its doomed dive are being investigated amid speculation the company’s boss misled billionaires to get them aboard.

The Titanic foundation spearheaded by sub victim Paul-Henri Nargeolet is probing OceanGate head Stockton Rush’s claims of how safe his vessel was ahead of the fateful dive when it imploded on June 18, The NY Post has learned.

Rush was a “cavalier guy”, according to RMS Titanic Inc. president Jessica Sanders, who is reviewing whether the organisation should have ever let Mr Nargeolet board the vessel — which Mr Rush told potential passengers was “way safer than flying in a helicopter or even scuba diving” or “crossing the street”.

Paul-Henri Nargeolet, director of a deep-ocean research project dedicated to the Titanic, in Paris, France, May 31, 2013. Picture: AFP

The Titanic foundation is reviewing its records and court filings in the wake of the tragedy and questioning the truthfulness of Mr Rush’s statements, Ms Sanders said.

“We have now our own internal questions about the representations [OceanGate] made that we made the basis on giving PH the OK to go,” she told The Post.

“We’re going back and looking at that now ourselves internally, because there were representations not only made to us, but made to the court, that now we have to go back and verify because of these stories that are coming up that question them.”

In the US, RMS Titanic Inc. has the salvage rights to the shipwreck, which were granted in 1993 by a court in Norfolk, Virginia and the company always consults with the court before recovering anything from the sunken ship.

OceanGate Expeditions CEO Stockton Rush on May 27, 2023. Picture: AFP

Artefacts from the wreck are subject to a special set of conditions, which mean they have to be displayed together and made available for academic research. The court also reviews other plans for those wishing to visit the wreck and Eastern District of Virginia Judge Rebecca Beach Smith has been reviewing their expedition plans for multiple years, according to Washingtonian.com.

Mr Rush openly declared he was a maverick, had used unconventional methods and materials to make his sub, and said he didn’t apply to get it classified — certified as safe — because it was a multi-year process that took too long.

Five explorers boarded the Titan submersible early June 18 and descended to the depths of the Atlantic bound for the Titanic wreckage. Picture: AFP

He believed “bringing an outside entity up to speed” on his work — which included the first-of-its-kind carbon fibre hull that imploded, killing all five aboard — were “anathema to rapid innovation”.

Mr Nargeolet and RMS Titanic Inc., where he served as director of underwater research, took a different approach and took steps to ensure they were following various regulations in allowing him to join the June 18 mission to the sea floor.

Ms Sanders said Mr Nargeolet joined the expedition not for research purposes, but strictly as a “guest of OceanGate” in line with their reporting requirements to a federal judge.

“He approached us initially and said, ‘OceanGate is doing these expeditions … is there a conflict?’” she recalled.

They okayed the trip after careful consideration, Ms Sanders said.

Mr Nargeolet had been to the wreck of the Titanic some 35 times, had also been a passenger on Titan a number of times, and was very close to Mr Rush.

US Coast Guard officials revealed on Thursday the Titan suffered a “catastrophic implosion” and lost all communication with the outside world while attempting to explore the Titanic wreck below the surface of the Atlantic, off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.

Titan submersible passengers (L-R, top to bottom) Hamish Harding, Stockton Rush, Paul-Henri Nargeolet, Suleman Dawood and his father Shahzada Dawood. Picture: AFP

Alongside Mr Nargeolet and Mr Rush, Sulaiman Dawood, 19, his business tycoon father, Shahzada, 48, and British billionaire explorer Hamish Harding, 58, were also lost to the deep.

The submersible lost communication with its mothership roughly one hour and 45 minutes into its mission.

The US Coast Guard and several other agencies frantically searched for days before spotting multiple seabed debris fields early Thursday and reaching the grim conclusion. The vessel, USCG officials said, had imploded and debris was found not far from the Titanic wreck site.

OceanGate’s controversial history

Reports of Mr Rush’s controversial history came to light shortly after the sub’s disappearance, when a 2018 lawsuit was unearthed alleging “quality control and safety” concerns with the one-of-a-kind vessel.

David Lochridge, OceanGate’s former director of marine operations, claimed in the suit that he was wrongfully terminated after notifying company execs about a “lack of non-destructive testing performed on the hull of the Titan”.

OceanGate consultant Rob McCallum warned Mr Rush in 2018 that he was “potentially placing yourself and your clients in a dangerous dynamic,” the BBC reported.

Mr Rush reportedly fired back: “We have heard the baseless cries of ‘you are going to kill someone’ way too often … I take this as a serious personal insult”.

David Pogue interviewed Stockton Rush about the OceanGate's submersible, The Titan. Picture: CBS Sunday Morning

And the Marine Technology Society sent a letter to Mr Rush in 2018 warning him it was critical that its prototypes undergo proper third-party testing before being taken to such depths to ensure the safety of its passengers.

But Mr Rush allegedly refused to do so.

The Titanic — hailed as “unsinkable” before it dropped to the bottom of the ocean in 1912 — lost more than 1500 passengers after smashing into an iceberg.

Mr Nargeolet, a former French navy commander affectionately known as “Mr Titanic”, had contributed a great deal to the exploration of the wreck.

Ms Sanders called him “a giant of a man”.

The 77-year-old trailblazer was aboard the first-ever vessel to travel down to the RMS Titanic wreckage in 1987. He was “one of those rare individuals that was so experienced and fearless — not reckless, fearless,” she said.

“If you didn’t get a chance to meet PH, it really is your loss,” Ms Sanders went on.

“You ever meet somebody that always has a really great story that’s always semi-unbelievable? … That was who he was.

“And so, my encouragement would be if you didn’t know him personally, ask someone who did.”

This story originally appeared on the NY Post and is republished here with permission