The daughter of a veteran French diver who is one of five people aboard the missing Titanic-bound submersible says — even as the amount of oxygen inside the vessel diminishes — she remains hopeful and finds comfort in the fact that her father is in the place he loved most.
Sidonie Nargeolet, whose father Paul-Henri Nargeolet, was part of the first human expedition to visit the site of the Titanic’s wreck in 1987, says she is confident in her 77-year-old father’s ability to manage the situation.
“He is very passionate about the Titanic since they found it 30 years ago and I know now he is at the place he would like to be,” Nargeolet, 39, told Reuters in the town of La Massana, Andorra, where she lives.
Her father is described as a leading expert on the historic sunken ship, having been a part of over 35 dives to the wreck after completing a two-decade career in the French Navy.
“I really hope they will find them and safe,” Nargeolet said. “I think we have to trust what they are doing and be confident.”
Nargeolet, who hasn’t seen her father since Christmas, says she’s cried a lot since learning of the incident on Monday — a day after he failed to reply to a text message wishing him a happy Father’s Day.
While she worries about the crew being found before they run out of oxygen — which officials estimate may have happened at 7:08 a.m. Thursday — Nargeolet is confident in her father’s ability to remain calm when met with a life-or-death situation.
“He knows how to handle a crisis situation. He is prepared for it. Here, I think that with the other people he would have explained to them, therefore, to breathe gently, so that we use less oxygen. And we also knows how to reassure them, that’s very important. Maybe kick the submarine, so they can hear it,” she said.
Nargeolet said she doesn’t always check the news because she wants to remain hopeful — even as the search entered its fourth day with no certainty of where the missing vessel may be.
“If they are not found, it will be very sad for us because we will not see him again. What he liked the most was to be in a submarine, (near) the Titanic. He is where he really loved being. I would prefer him (dying) at a place where he is very happy,” she said.
“So whether he’s in a submarine and whether he’s in the Titanic, I know he likes it. I hope there will be a good outcome, that they will find him. In any case … he is happy where he is … That’s reassuring.”
With Post wires
