Experienced explorer who died aboard the Titan sub was a widower and said a sub implosion would be 'a good way' to go, report says

• Paul-Henri Nargeolet was one of five people killed in the Titan submersible disaster.
• A friend of Nargeolet told The New Yorker he had ignored advice not to get on the vessel.

The experienced deep-sea explorer who died aboard the Titan submersible was aware of the risks and said an implosion would be a "good way" to die, a report says.

Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77, from France, one of the most prolific Titanic divers in history, was declared dead after the vessel was believed to have suffered a catastrophic implosion on its way down to see the shipwreck.

Patrick Lahey, the CEO of Triton Submarines, told The New Yorker that he had warned his friend Nargeolet, whom he referred to as PH, not to participate in OceanGate's expeditions.

"I had a conversation with PH just as recently as a few months ago," Lahey told the magazine.

"I kept giving him shit for going out there. I said, 'PH, by you being out there, you legitimize what this guy's doing. It's a tacit endorsement. And, worse than that, I think he's using your involvement with the project, and your presence on the site, as a way to fucking lure people into it.' "

Lahey was referring to OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, who also died in the implosion and had ignored concerns raised about the submersible's design flaws.

According to the magazine, Nargeolet, who had lost his wife in 2017, replied that he was getting old. He had told people several times in recent years: "If you have to go, that would be a good way. Instant."

"I said, 'OK, so you're ready to fucking die? Is that what it is, PH?' " Lahey said.

"And he said, 'No, no, but I figure that, maybe if I'm out there, I can help them avoid a tragedy.' But instead, he found himself right in the fucking center of a tragedy. And he didn't deserve to go that way."

Based on interviews and e-mails with expedition leaders and employees, the New Yorker article provides insight into how OceanGate ignored safety concerns repeatedly raised from inside and outside the company.

"I loved PH Nargeolet," Lahey told the magazine. "He was a brilliant human being and somebody that I had the privilege of knowing for almost 25 years, and I think it's a tremendously sad way for him to have ended his life."

The CEO of the deep sea research company that retrieved the Titan submersible wreckage told a press conference on Friday that ocean exploration is all about "a passion and a joy for exploration."

Ed Cassano, the CEO of Pelagic Research Services, said ocean exploration was "very compelling" and that he was aware of OceanGate's activities before the Titan sub's fateful final trip. "It's a very small community," he said.

"Explorers, people who seek to be on the ocean, to go to depth – it's very compelling. We certainly share those desires. Our whole company is designed to support research and science at depth. There was a passion and a joy for exploration," said Cassano.