PARIS, France – French oceanographer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, one of many 5 individuals on board a submersible lacking within the North Atlantic, is a world famend skilled with greater than 35 dives to the Titanic shipwreck below his belt, his colleagues mentioned on Wednesday.
“He is the world specialist on the Titanic, its conception, the shipwreck, he has dived in four corners of the world – he is a super-hero for us in France,” mentioned Mathieu Johann, his editor at Harper Collins.
Johann satisfied Nargeolet to put in writing his e-book ‘In the depths of the Titanic’ as a result of he mentioned his youngsters had been super-fans.
Nargeolet, 77, went lacking on Sunday together with 4 others on a vacationer go to aboard the Titan submersible to see the wreck of the British ocean liner, which sank when it hit an iceberg on its maiden voyage in 1912 and now lies on the seabed at a depth of about 12,500 ft (3,810 meters).
An enormous search and rescue operation is underway.
The underwater explorer wanted convincing to put in writing a e-book, Johann mentioned, as a result of he wished to spend all of his time diving.
“He wakes up in the morning and he wants to go to the sea,” mentioned Johann.
Career in French Navy
Director of underwater analysis for RMS Titanic, which owns the rights to the ship’s stays, Nargeolet began researching and exploring the Titanic wreck when he joined the French ocean analysis institute Ifremer in 1986, after a 22-year profession within the French navy.
“He piloted the Nautile (a submersible that went to the wreckage). He is known for his great experience … someone that is part of Ifremer history is aboard,” mentioned Olivier Lefort, oceanographic fleet operations director for the institute.
During his explorations of the wreck of the Titanic he led to 5,500 objects to the floor, together with private objects belonging to passengers, like binoculars and letters, mentioned Johann.
He mentioned the one a part of the ship that the diver had not explored up to now was the protected room, the place gold and jewelry would have been saved.
The 1997 movie “Titanic” directed by James Cameron, a pal of Nargeolet, was impressed by photos taken by the French explorer, who was amazed by the standard of the reconstructions within the movie, shot in a pool, Johann mentioned.
Nargeolet’s French spouse, Anne, lives in Connecticut and his kids dwell outdoors of France.
Nargeolet was beforehand married to American journalist Michele Marsh, who died in 2017. They met after Marsh contacted the explorer to ask for the contact of a Frenchman who had survived the Titanic.
The president of RMS Titanic, Jessica Sanders, mentioned in an announcement on Wednesday that Nargeolet’s expertise was unparalleled and “no-one has a better chance of navigating equipment failures than he does”.
Bernard Cauvin, director of La Cite de la Mer nautical museum in Cherbourg, who has identified Nargeolet since 2009, mentioned: “He is someone extremely humble, and very serene, he was sure of himself but he was rigorous – he wouldn’t have gone somewhere if he was unsure.” — Reuters
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
