In the world of oceanography, he was called “Mr. Titanic”. French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, one of five passengers who died last Sunday in the Titan’s implosion, had spent nearly 40 years exploring the liner’s wreck, which lies at the bottom of the Atlantic since her shipwreck in 1911. Jessica Sanders mourns the disappearance of “a friend”. She presides over the American company RMS Titanic, the only one authorized to collect objects from the area of the disaster, which will be presented in an exhibition in Paris from July 18.
But the leader does not join the voices accusing OceanGate and its late founder, Stockton Rush, of negligence with a fiberglass submersible that he had refused to submit to a certification process. Jessica Sanders, however, calls for stricter regulation. Without considering stopping the exploration of the Titanic.
Why did the Titanic attract Paul-Henri Nargeolet so much? What drove him to continue visiting the deep seas at 77?
Already, it is a very hard moment for us. Paul-Henri was more than an employee or a colleague. He was a friend. There is still something unreal in what happened. I was supposed to meet him in Paris next month for one of our exhibitions.
In the past, I had asked him why he chose to explore the Titanic. He replied that each time he went there, he saw something new. Sometimes it was an area he hadn’t explored yet, or an area in danger due to damage. Or an underwater species he didn’t know about. It’s a very big wreck, even for someone who’s been there a few times. And he said there was always something to discover.
What was his role in this tourist expedition with OceanGate?
There was no partnership with OceanGate. We made eight expeditions to the wreck ourselves. We were studying how we could bring back the information from these tourist trips, and how to convey it to the public. But there was no partnership. Paul-Henri loved diving. So when he asked me if he could travel with OceanGate, seeing it as an opportunity to bring back some information, I said “of course”. I believe he had started expeditions with them in 2019. So he was a guest, with our agreement. And our support.
Had he expressed concerns about the security of the Titan?
No. Paul-Henri has never expressed reservations about safety. I think he was drawn to the technological aspects and innovation. He told me that OceanGate performs several checks before each shipment. And that he felt comfortable with this way of working. But he also knew there was a risk, like on any submarine.
Whenever anyone asked him about safety, he would say, “When you’re in a sub at this depth, by the time you realize there’s a problem, it’s too late. He was aware of that.
Stockton Rush, the founder of OceanGate, bragged about breaking the rules to design this fiberglass submersible, when many questions about strength had been raised. Was he negligent?
Oceanographers have expressed concerns about the way the submarine was designed. And I also read interviews where he seemed proud of his innovation. It’s tragic that much the same thing happened as with the Titanic, which is that they thought it would never sink, until it sank. I don’t know how you test a submarine to see how many times it can go underwater before it crashes. I’m not the best person to tell you that.
Some voices are rising to demand a break in the exploration of the deep sea and stricter regulations on certifications. Do you agree ?
I have a slightly different perspective. I think there needs to be some form of regulation on ships, some form of certification. However, we have been safely diving the depths since the 1960s. Lots of other people do it too and we’ve worked with them. James Cameron managed to do it several times successfully, Victor Vescovo too [investisseur et explorateur sous-marin]. So I don’t think the industry is to blame, I think maybe it’s the certification that needs more rules.
How does RMS Titanic work?
We are a for-profit company and follow US standards. But the mission of RMS Titanic Inc. is to preserve the legacy of the maiden voyage as well as the memory of passengers and crew. And we do that by telling real stories about real passengers through real objects we’ve collected. Thus, we propose an exhibition, as I mentioned, in Paris from July 18, Porte de Versailles.
Will this tragedy have an impact on your future exploration missions?
This week, honestly, we first mourned our friend and not just that of a member of the oceanographic community. How will this affect future operations? I don’t know because we haven’t gotten over our grief yet. As Paul-Henri was the foremost expert on the wreckage site, his disappearance creates a void in this area. But he was also 77 years old. I had asked him several times: “Who will be your successor?” “. But also: “Does he have to be French? And he never answered me.
One of the things we know is that we have to keep working. We had already planned an expedition in 2024 to map the wreck site with new technologies. Paul-Henri was to co-lead this expedition. I think that despite his absence, we have to move forward.
Do we really need humans for these missions? Can’t we use robots?
This is exactly the question we must ask ourselves for the next expedition. People would like everything to be automated and to be able to control everything remotely, with a remote control. During our previous dives, this technology did not exist. In the future, we must absolutely look at how to continue our missions by taking the least possible risk, because of this tragedy.
Why does the Titanic still fascinate so much today?
There are so many ways to get into this story… Most people will find something in there that will interest them. It can be the science, technology and deep sea diving part, exploring the wreckage nowadays. Or the construction of a ship at the time, a real hotel on the water, which had never been done before Edwardian era (1900-1914). Still others will be interested in the sinking, and the philosophical decisions that the people on board had to make, the stories of sacrifice, of heroism. Beyond the film, once we get into the real story, it captivates us.