Man aboard doomed Titanic submersible has ties to Georgia
PEACHTREE CORNERS, Ga. - One of those believed to be aboard the submersible, operated by OceanGate Expeditions, touring the wreckage of the Titanic has ties to the metro Atlanta area.
French mariner Paul-Henry Nargeolet, considered one of the leading experts on the Titanic, is feared to be among five people who went missing on a tourist submersible visiting the wreckage on Sunday.
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Who is Paul-Henry Nargeolet?
Nargeolet is the director of underwater research for the E/M Group, based in Peachtree Corners, Georgia, and RMS Titanic, Inc.
Born in Chamonix, France, Nargeolet is considered a "leading authority" on the Titanic.
According to his online bio, he has done about 37 solo submersible dives to the Titanic and recovered about 5,000 artifacts, including a 20-ton section of the ship’s hull.
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Nargeolet spent more than two decades in the French Navy, rising to the rank of commander. He retired in 1986 and joined the French Institute for Research and Exploitation of Sea, leading deep submersibles. In this role, he led the first recovery expedition of the Titanic in 1987.
Search widens for missing Titanic tourist sub
According to Coast Guard estimates, the submersible that's missing in the north Atlantic has less than a day's with of oxygen left onboard. A multi-national search continues 900 miles off the coast of Cape Cod for a sub that disappeared while on a tour of the titanic wreckage.
Submersible to Titanic wreckage missing
Five people in all were about the submersible which was reported overdue Sunday night about 435 miles south of St. John’s, Newfoundland, according to Canada’s Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
According to the Coast Guard, the craft submerged Sunday morning, and its support vessel lost contact with it about an hour and 45 minutes later.
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David Concannon, an adviser to OceanGate, said the submersible had a 96-hour oxygen supply starting at roughly 6 a.m. Sunday.
The expedition was OceanGate’s third annual voyage to chronicle the deterioration of Titanic, which struck an iceberg and sank in 1912, killing all but about 700 of the roughly 2,200 passengers and crew. Since the wreckage’s discovery in 1985, it has been slowly succumbing to metal-eating bacteria. Some have predicted the ship could vanish in a matter of decades as holes yawn in the hull and sections disintegrate.
Missing submersible imploded near Titanic wreckage
The U.S. Coast Guard says a missing submersible imploded near the wreckage of the Titanic, killing all five people on board.
MISSING SUBMERSIBLE IMPLODED NEAR TITANIC WRECKAGE, LEAVING NO SURVIVORS, COAST GUARD SAYS
Coast Guard officials said during a news conference Thursday that they've notified the families of the crew of the Titan, which has been missing for several days. Debris found during the search for the vessel "is consistent with a catastrophic implosion of the vessel," said Rear Adm. John Mauger of the First Coast Guard District.
OceanGate Expeditions said in a statement that all five people on board, including company CEO Stockton Rush, are believed to be dead. Rush, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood, Hamish Harding, and Paul-Henri Nargeolet "have sadly been lost," OceanGate said in a statement.
OceanGate did not provide details when the company announced the "loss of life" in a statement or how officials knew the crew members perished. The Titan's 96-hour oxygen supply likely ended early Thursday.
FOX News and The Associated Press contributed to this article