The family of Titanic explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet is seeking more than $50 million in damages in a lawsuit targeting Everett, Wash.-based OceanGate and other companies. The suit, filed in King County Superior Court, marks the beginning of what’s likely to be a complicated and drawn-out legal battle in the aftermath of last year’s loss of OceanGate’s Titan submersible and its crew.
Nargeolet, a veteran of more than 35 Titanic dives, was one of the five people aboard Titan who died in June 2023 when the sub underwent a catastrophic implosion during its final descent to the Titanic wreck in the North Atlantic. The other victims were British aviation executive Hamish Harding; Pakistani-born business executive Shahzada Dawood and his son, Suleman; and OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, who was piloting the sub.
In addition to OceanGate, defendants in the suit include Rush’s estate, former OceanGate director of engineering Tony Nissen and three companies said to have participated in Titan’s construction: Mukilteo, Wash.-based Electroimpact, Sedro-Woolley, Wash.-based Janicki Industries and California-based Hydrospace Group.
