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 Post has learned.
Rush was a “cavalier guy” according to RMS Titanic, Inc. president Jessica Sanders who is now reviewing whether the organization should have ever let Nargeolet board the vessel — which Rush told potenital passengers was “way safer than flying in a helicopter or even scuba diving,” or even “crossing the street.”
The Titanic foundation is now reviewing past records in the wake of the tragedy and questioning the truthfulness and veracity of Rush’s statements, 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.”
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.
He believed “bringing an outside entity up to speed” on his innovations — which included the first-of-a-kind carbon-fibre hull which imploded, killing all five aboard — were “anathema to rapid innovation”.
Nargeolet and the RMS Titanic, Inc., where he served as director of underwater research, took a different approach and went through hoops to ensure they were in-line with various regulations in allowing him to join the June 18 mission to the sea floor.
Sanders said 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, Sanders said.
“He approached us initially and said, ‘OceanGate is doing these expeditions … is there a conflict?’” she recalled.
They OK’d the trip after careful consideration, Sanders said.
Nargeolet had been to the wreck of the Titanic some 35 times, and had also been passenger on Titan a number of times, and was very close to Rush.
US Coast Guard officials revealed Thursday the Titan suffered a “catastrophic implosion” days after it lost all communications with the outside world while attempting to explore the Titanic wreck 12,500 feet below the surface of the Atlantic, 350 nautical miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.
Alongside Nargeolet and 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, when it was estimated to have been between 10,000ft beneath the ocean’s surface.
The US Coast Guard and several other agencies frantically searched for days before spotting multiple debris fields early Thursday and reaching the grim conclusion. The vessel, USCG officials said, had imploded and debris was found approximately 1,600 feet from the Titanic wreck site.
OceanGate’s controversial history
Reports of 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 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 Rush in 2018 that he was “potentially placing yourself and your clients in a dangerous dynamic,” the BBC reported.
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.”
And the Marine Technology Society sent a letter to Rush in 2018 warning him of the critical importance that its prototypes undergo proper third-party testing before being taken to such depths to ensure the safety of its passengers.
But 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 1,500 passengers after crashing into an iceberg.
Nargeolet, a former French Navy commander affectionately known as “Mr. Titanic,” had contributed a great deal to the exploration of the Titanic wreck.
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,” 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.”
