Titanic expert PH Nargeolet, who died in sub implosion, said it would be ‘good way’ to go: report

A friend has told how Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet, who died in the OceanGate submersible disaster, made an eerie prediction.

French Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet, who died in the OceanGate submersible tragedy, said he was well aware of the risks in diving to the famed shipwreck – and even considered an implosion a “good way” to go, according to a new report.

Patrick Lahey, president of Triton Submarines, told The New Yorker he had warned his friend not to take part in expeditions led by the company, whose CEO Stockton Rush had allegedly ignored widespread warnings about the lack of safety and construction of the deep-sea tourist vessel.

Paul-Henri Nargeolet told a friend and colleague dying in a submersible implosion “would be a good way” to die. Picture: Supplied

“I had a conversation with PH just as recently as a few months ago,” Lahey told the magazine, referring to Nargeolet by his nickname ‘PH’.

“I kept giving him s**t for going out there. I said, ‘PH, by you being out there, you legitimatise what this guy’s doing. It’s a tacit endorsement. And, worse than that, I think he’s using your involvement with the project, and your presence on the site, as a way to f****ng lure people into it,’” he said.

OceanGate Expeditions’ Titan submersible. Picture: Handout / OceanGate Expeditions / AFP

Triton Submarine’s supersub. Picture: Supplied

According to the New York Post, Nargeolet, 77, replied that he was an elderly widower and that “if you have to go, that would be a good way. Instant”.

The French explorer and former naval officer had been to the wreck of the Titanic, 3800m beneath the surface of the ocean, more than 30 times, and had been on OceanGate’s submersible numerous times during tourist trips.

“I said, ‘OK, so you’re ready to f****ng die? Is that what it is, PH?’ ” Lahey recalled to The New Yorker. “And he said, ‘No, no, but I figure that, maybe if I’m out there, I can help them avoid a tragedy.’ But instead, he found himself right in the f****ng centre of a tragedy. And he didn’t deserve to go that way. ...I think it’s a tremendously sad way for him to have ended his life.”

Widower, Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77, made the wreck of the Titanic the focus of his existence and said imploding in a sub would be a good way to die. Picture: AFP

“All my existence revolves around it,” he wrote in his 2022 book, “Dans les Profondeurs du Titanic” (In the Depths of the Titanic).

“Deep water diving in a pocket submarine is the only extreme activity accessible to anyone in good health, without training and regardless of age,” Mr. Nargeolet wrote in his book.

Mr. Nargeolet and Mr. Rush, 61, were killed in the implosion along with British billionaire Hamish Harding, 58, Pakistani tycoon Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his 19-year-old son, Suleman Dawood.

Christine Dawood, the wife of Shahzada, told the New York Times she watched from the support ship, Polar Prince as her husband and son climbed into the Titan, carrying a Rubik’s cube and a camera.

Shahzada Dawood pictured with his wife Christine. Picture: Facebook

The family had become fascinated by the Titanic and Ms Dawood had initially planned to accompany her husband on the voyage instead of her son.

On the previous expedition, Mr Nargeolet told the group a story about how he had once been “stuck down there for three days and the sub was out of communication,” Ms. Dawood told the New York Times.

Mr. Nargeolet planned to be in Paris on July 18 for the opening of an exhibition about the Titanic.

Mrs Dawood described how she and daughter Alina, 17, were on board the submersible’s mothership, Polar Prince, for the adventure that coincided with Father’s Day.

Christine Dawood, the mother of Titanic tourist sub victim Suleman Dawood, in her BBC interview. Picture: Supplied

Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman spent their last moments in submersible in the dark listening to music. Photo: AFP

She said the Dawood father and son team spent their final moments before the Titan imploded listening to music on a bluetooth speaker in total darkness to conserve power while watching bioluminescent creatures in the deep.

She said three months earlier, OceanGate CEO Rush and his wife Wendy had flown from to meet the Dawoods in London to reassure the family the voyage in the submersible was safe.

Mr Rush, believed going to the depths of the Atlantic Ocean in the Titan was “safer than crossing the street”.

Stockton Rush would like to be remembered as an innovator, he said, despite flouting safety standards. Picture: OceanGate

Mr Rush, who was piloting the Titan, said in a 2021 interview he would “like to be remembered as an innovator.

“I think it was General MacArthur who said, ‘You’re remembered for the rules you break.’ And I’ve broken some rules to make this,” he said, adding: “The carbon fibre and titanium? There’s a rule you don’t do that. Well, I did,” referring to the controversial carbon-fibre design of the Titan’s hull.

Other deep-sea submersibles make the compartments where their crew sits out of titanium or reinforced steel.

Mr. Rush has faced heavy criticism after the disaster for seemingly ignoring major safety concerns while charging the wealthy tourists $250,000 (A$375,000) each for the voyage to the iconic wreck 3800m below the ocean surface.

A six-minute OceanGate promotional video released 10 weeks before the Titan sub disaster promised thrillseekers a journey “that Jules Verne could only imagine”.

The video references the safety of the vessel multiple times throughout and shows people at the base drinking and laughing together, while being trained for the mission.

Software security expert Aaron Newman, who is one of the few featured in the video to highlight its risks, says, “This is not a ride at Disney, there is a lot of risk involved and there’s a lot of challenges.”

Originally published as Titanic expert PH Nargeolet, who died in sub implosion, said it would be ‘good way’ to go: report