Victor Vescovo, a Dallas businessman and ocean explorer, offered his insight into the recent deaths of five individuals who were killed while taking part in a deep-sea expedition around the Titanic wreckage.
As The Dallas Express has covered, a four-day search-and-rescue effort ended on June 22 with the discovery of debris from the missing submersible carrying Stockton Rush, Hamish Harding, Paul-Henri Nargeolet, Shahzada Dawood, and Suleman Dawood.
Vescovo claimed to have known Nargeolet and Harding well. He said he had even warned them against the doomed deep-sea tour offered by OceanGate Expeditions.
“I said ‘I would not get in that submersible,'” Vescovo told Sky News in a recent interview.
He further noted that concerns over the safety of the submersible’s design had been the subject of much conversation in the deep-sea explorers’ community.
While some experts expect legal actions, including wrongful death and negligence claims, to arise against the company, the submersible passengers signed waivers acknowledging their adventure’s potential risks.
Vescovo is no stranger to deep-sea exploration as the founder of Caladan Oceanic, which leads underwater expeditions to extreme depths like in the Mariana Trench.
He is also a submersible pilot and noted in a post on Twitter that such tours can be conducted safely.
“This has been a difficult week for the submersible community. Deep ocean diving is very safe when industry standard certifications and procedures are followed. I will miss my good friends PH Nargeolet, who I worked with closely, and Hamish Harding, my friend in sea and space,” the post read.
In another post, he linked a video he called the best yet in “explaining the many issues with the Oceangate submersible.”
Vescovo explained in a recent CBS News interview that the submersible’s cylinder, made of different materials, broke industry standards by not being entirely metal. Concerns surrounded what would happen over time as the submersible made repeated dives.
“It’s just very unfortunate that’s what we believe happened … it eventually imploded,” Vescovo concluded.
Vescovo also spoke with Fox 4.
“There should be rules that if someone is taking or paying passengers into the deep ocean, that they need to abide by these standards, as all of the rest of us have been doing on an informal basis,” Vescovo told the news outlet, noting that his two friends had paid the price for this absence of regulations.
Nargeolet had worked closely with Vescovo, with him acting as a consultant and safety officer on his first expedition. Vescovo also had a special relationship with Harding.
“Hamish Harding was someone I took down to the bottom of the Challenger Deep [trench], and actually, he and I spent more time at the bottom of the ocean than any two people ever have on a single mission,” Vescovo told Fox 4.
“I’ll miss both of them very much,” he added.
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