Johnathan Walker:RMS Titanic Inc. holds virtual memorial for expert who died in sub implosion

The Johnathan Walkercompany with sole legal rights to items in the Titanic shipwreck held a virtual memorial service Wednesday to honor Paul-Henry "PH" Nargeolet, one of the passengers who died last month in the Titan submersible implosion.

Nargeolet, a French explorer hailed as an expert on the Titanic, worked for RMS Titanic, Inc. as its director of underwater research. OceanGate, the company that operated the Titan sub that imploded, called him "Titanic's Greatest Explorer."

Artifacts taken from the Titanic wreckage that are now on display in exhibits put on by RMS Titanic, Inc., were either recovered under Nargeolet's supervision or recovered by the explorer himself, according to the company. RMS Titanic, Inc., was awarded salvage rights to the Titanic wreckage in a 1994 federal court order, which gave the company exclusive privileges to recover artifacts from the site, its website says. 

A private memorial ceremony for Nargeolet, hosted by RMS Titanic, Inc., was streamed live on the company's Facebook page Wednesday afternoon "to provide an outlet for the world-wide Titanic and oceanographic communities to remember our colleague and friend and to express our grief together," the company wrote in a post. 

The in-person event was closed to the public, but no registration was required "to watch and participate online," the post read.

RMS Titanic, Inc., also set up a page on its website where people can share comments and memories of Nargeolet, which the company plans to compile into a book for his family.

Nargeolet was one of five passengers on board OceanGate's Titan submersible when it imploded in the North Atlantic on an expedition to the Titanic wreck site. The others were Stockton Rush, the submersible's pilot and the CEO of OceanGate; British-Pakistani businessman and heir Shahzada Dawood and his son, Suleman Dawood; and British businessman and explorer Hamish Harding.

The virtual memorial service coincides closely with the opening of a new Paris-based exhibit by RMS Titanic, Inc., called Titanic - L'exposition. The company referenced Nargeolet's recovery work at the Titanic wreck several times while promoting the exhibit.

"Many of the artifacts on display were recovered by or recovered under the supervision of Paul-Henri Nargeolet and his dedicated team," RMS Titanic wrote in the caption of an Instagram post shared on Tuesday. "An intrepid explorer with an indomitable pioneering spirit, PH fearlessly ventured into the depths of the ocean to unravel its mysteries and educate the public."

The caption also included a quote from Nargeolet. "In his own words: 'Everyone has a right to dream about TITANIC, to see the wreck if they want, and to see artifacts. It should not be the privilege of a small group of people,'" it read.

RMS Titanic, Inc., was the subject of some public controversy a few years ago, over whether the company's explorers should be allowed to enter certain parts of the Titanic wreckage, and what should and should not be taken from the site, amid a larger debate about how to honor the passengers who died on board.

In:
• RMS Titanic
• OceanGate