Family of explorer who died in the Titan submarine sues OceanGate for $50 million: On what grounds?

It has been just over a year since the OceanGate Titan disaster, where a group of five passengers aboard a submersible headed to view the wreckage of the Titanic imploded in the Atlantic Ocean. Now, the estate of one of the passengers is suing OceanGate for failing to protect the safety of the people from the company that sold these excursions.

Who was Paul-Henri Nargeolet?

The estate of Paul-Henri Nargeolet, the French navigator, is the group suing OceanGate for $50 million, with the suit naming the estate of the company’s former CEO, Stockton Rush, who also perished in the accident.

The suit explains that Nargeolet was an OceanGate employee and no stranger to the site of the Titanic. “Nargeolet was known worldwide as “Mr. Titanic,” reads the suit filed in Kings County, Washington. He had visited the Titanic wreckage thirty-seven times, “the most of any diver worldwide,” and was a part of the first team to visit the site in 1987. Nargeolet had been hired by Ocean Gate because of his vast experience, with his estate explaining that his job “was to guide other crewmembers and assist with navigation through the Titanic wreckage, which he knew so well.”

What does the lawsuit claim?

Nargeolet’s estate is arguing that OceanGate failed to meet safety standards, citing the carbon fiber material used to build the submersible and the company’s failure to have an independent safety evaluation conducted on the nautical vehicle. By trying to cut corners and beginning to sell trips to the bottom of the ocean, risks were ignored, and the cost was the death of all aboard.

The court document also states that Nargeolet had no part in the design of the submersible as that was outside of his realm of expertise but that the process under which it was designed, constructed, and tested was “outside the norms of the diving community and industry, driven by RUSH’s apparent obsession with being remembered for “innovation” alongside such luminaries as Steve Jobs and Elon Musk.”

There are these causes of action listed in the lawsuit, with the first two centering on claims of wrongful death, negligence, and gross negligence. The third argues that the vessel was unseaworthy based on the legal standard outlined in the General Maritime Law.

The lawsuit lists these causes of action, with the first two centering on claims of wrongful death, negligence, and gross negligence. The third argues that the vessel was unseaworthy based on the legal standard outlined in General Maritime Law.

No response has been made public by OceanGate.