Among the five missing, a Frenchman, Paul-Henry Nargeolet. Since Sunday, the Titan tourist submarine has not responded. The OceanGate Expeditions company vessel disappeared while out to explore the remains of the famous Titanic. As confirmed by his family to BFMTV, the Frenchman living in Connecticut, Paul-Henry Nargeolet, is on board the device.
A Titanic Expert
The 77-year-old former sailor is very familiar with these waters. This former French Navy officer is now the director of the underwater research program on the wreckage of the Titanic. He is an employee of the American company RMS Titanic Inc, which owns the metal casing.
Paul-Henry Nargeolet made some thirty dives on the wreck during eight expeditions and supervised the recovery of 5,000 objects. Expertise and experience that made you aware of the dangers:
“When you are in very deep water, you are dead before you realize that something is happening,” he confided in 2019 to the‘irish examiner.
The pilot was also very familiar with the machine whose technological qualities he praised at the Cité de la Mer in Cherbourg. He had already embarked on it to study the remains, particularly in the summer of 2021.
“Mr. Titanic”
His love for the famous shipwreck, Paul-Henry Nargeolet recounted it in his book The depths of the Titanic (HarperCollins Editions). On the occasion of a portrait published in The worldthe specialist won a title of “Mister Titanic”, title taken up in the last hours in the world press.
At the time of publication of this book, the specialist had granted an interview to the Telegram. She confided in him her fascination and a taste for risk:
“You stay on the bottom for four, five, six, seven or eight hours, which is the longest. And even then, you don’t really want to come back up. Sometimes I get to the end of the batteries.” , and sometimes even more. I’ve been scolded several times for that.”
Like the other four occupants of the Titan submarine, the fate of Paul-Henry Nargeolet is currently unknown. The North American authorities have launched a rescue operation, without success so far.
Source: BFM TV
