Titanic exhibition in Paris pays tribute to French explorer killed on Titan sub

A major exhibition dedicated to the Titanic has opened in Paris, with many of the objects on display brought up from the ship's wreck by a French deep-sea explorer who died in a submersible disaster last month.

A replica of the Grand Staircase in the first-class section of the Titanic ocean liner on the opening day of the XXL Titanic exhibition at Paris Expo Porte de Versailles in Paris, on July 18, 2023. © AFP - GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT

The Titanic exhibition is "largely the result of the work, ingenuity and passion of Henri-Paul Nargeolet", the event's producer Pascal Bernardin said. The 77 year-old French explorer, nicknamed "Mr Titanic", had been due to open the event on Tuesday.

Nargeolet was one of five people onboard the Titan tourist sub when it lost contact with the surface after plunging down to visit the wreck mid-June.

An attempted rescue operation in the North Atlantic found evidence that the vessel had imploded underwater, killing all on board.

A photograph shows the replica of a second class room of the Titanic liner on the opening day of the XXL Titanic exhibition at Paris Expo Porte de Versailles in Paris on July 18, 2023. AFP - GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT

The exhibition, which runs until 10 September, starts off with a more than four-metre-long model of the mythic ship.

Visitors are then taken on a journey from the night the Titanic departed England for New York in April 1912, through the sinking of what was the world's largest cruise ship after its hull was ruptured by an iceberg.

The exhibition features recreations of the ship's cabins, grand staircase and even the oppressive atmosphere of its engine room.

A tribute

Nargeolet helped bring up many of the 260 objects on display – which include navigation instruments and hooks from the ship, as well as watches and jewellery from its passengers – from the wreck.

American explorer Matthew Tulloch, who was present for the inauguration of the exhibition, dived four times to a depth of 4,000 metres with Nargeolet and helped bring back numerous articles.

"It should have been Paul-Henri speaking, he was supposed to be here for this exhibition. By seeing these objects, I hope that our contribution will serve to preserve history. It is a tribute to him," he told Franceinfo.

A visitor walks past a replica of an iceberg on the opening day of the XXL Titanic exhibition at Paris Expo Porte de Versailles in Paris on July 18, 2023. AFP - GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT

A joint French-American expedition discovered the Titanic's wreck nearly four kilometres underwater off the coast of Newfoundland in 1985.

Nargeolet directed or participated in six of the eight exploration missions to the wreck between 1987 and 2010, which brought back more than 5,000 objects to the surface.

• Exhibition pays homage to the Titanic

Titan disaster

The vessels used for those missions were quite different to the Titan. Concerns about the sub's safety voiced by industry insiders came to light after its implosion.

Titan's US-based operator OceanGate, whose CEO Stockton Rush was among those killed, has suspended all its activities indefinitely.

It had charged $250,000 a seat on the submersible, which was about the size of an SUV car.

The US Coast Guard and Canadian authorities have launched probes into the cause of the tragedy.

(with AFP)