1 of 1 Undated image of Paul Henry Nargeolet, a former French Navy commander Photo: Reproduction/LinkedIn Undated image of Paul Henry Nargeolet, a former French Navy commander Photo: Reproduction/LinkedIn
One of the passengers on the tourist submarine that disappeared on an expedition to the Titanic wreck is PaulHenry Nargeolet, a former French Navy commander who is considered the leading expert on the wreck site, according to Canadian media in England. .
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The Guardian newspaper said Nargeolet was believed to be on board the submarine. Radio Canada passed the information to another passenger: Hamish Harding.
Hardin, a British billionaire, claimed on his Facebook page that he would be on the tourist sub. On the social network, he explained that he would be accompanied by famous explorers and mentioned the name of PaulHenri Nargeolet.
A Canadian diver, Larry Daley, was also heard on the radio confirming that Nargeolet had plans to join this tourist expedition.
The submarine that takes tourists to the Titanic disappears into the Atlantic
Who is Nargeolet?
In 1987, the Frenchman took part in the first expedition to recover objects from the Titanic. Since then, he has led several expeditions to the site, overseeing the recovery of 5,000 artifacts, including a 20ton hull section of Titanic.
Nargeolet is not only a former commander of the French Navy, but also an experienced diver and submarine pilot.
As head of underwater research for E/M Group and Titanic, Inc., he is considered the leading expert on the wreck site and it is possible that he was in charge of the submersible during the dive with four other passengers at his side.
First time on the shipwreck
In a 2012 interview, Nargeolet described the first dive on the Titanic wreck. At the time, he said the decorations on the ship’s keel were still shiny, “as clean as if someone polished them this week.”
The former soldier said he was moved by seeing thousands of objects on the seabed and the progressive deterioration of the ship’s remains.
“It’s absolute darkness. We use projectors, but it’s a bit like the lights on a car, they don’t reach very far. The water is extremely cold, between zero and one degree, and there is a more or less strong current,” said Nargeolet.
“Visibility varies and some days it looks like it’s snowing on the boat because of the particles that usually come down from the Gulf Stream,” he said.
He also spoke about the first expedition: “There were three of us in the submarine. There was not a word for ten minutes. Normally there is a lot of talking in a submarine, but the emotions were very strong. It was great. We.” When we were lucky enough to reach the front, we went around the hull. We were sure it was the Titanic.”
Disappearance of the tourist submarine
The missing tourist submarine is owned by the company OceanGate, which conducts expeditions to the wreck of the Titanic. There are five people in the ship.
The remains of the Titanic lie about 600 km off the coast of Canada.
Coast Guards in the United States and Canada conduct search and rescue operations. The Canadians said they had sent a military aircraft and ship in support.
OceanGate is charging each passenger US$250,000 (R$1.19 million) for a spot on its expedition to view the wreck.
According to the company’s website, the company began its fifth “mission” to the wreck of the Titanic last week. The expected end of the trip was next Thursday.
The journey takes eight days. The submersible takes about 2.5 hours to descend to the wreck site, which is located at a depth of 3,800 meters in the Atlantic.