Former Titanic Inc head pays tribute to 'extraordinary submariner' killed in implosion on Titan sub

A friend of the submersible pilot who was on board the vessel that disappeared near the wreck of the Titanic has payed tribute to the 'extraordinary submariner'.

Dik Barton is a former director of operations for RMS Titanic Incorporated, a company that salvaged the site of the wreck, who now lives near Carlisle.

He worked with French explorer Paul-Henry Nargeolet who was among those confirmed to have died on the Titan submersible which went missing on Sunday.

Mr Barton said: "It's devastating, of course. And you have to think of the families and the close friends and work colleagues who are affected by this.

"Everyone's wise after the event. But those in the know, the professionals within the industry - we knew what had happened but you don't give up hope. And you saw the extraordinary effort that the global rescue service went to. Expense wasn't an issue. It was motivated by trying to save life.

"We sadly have to learn the hard way. We just don't get it sometimes. We learned from Titantic, we now have sufficient life boats on all maritime vessels. We have legislation, we have compliance so we have to learn from this. Going two and a half miles underwater is not a tourist event.

"PH is an extraordinary sub-mariner, he's a great explorer, he was extremely experienced, he knew the wreck better than anything else. the family must be suffering now, I can't imagine what they're going through."

The submersible had been used to take tourists to view the Titanic, 13,000 feet below the ocean surface in the North Atlantic.

Mr Barton said: "People are obsessed with Titanic and she's romanticised, she's been documented, she's an extraordinary iconic wreck. It's a very hostile place and you have to quantify those risks. And those people that went on that expedition were acutely aware of that. They signed a waiver which clearly defined that there was extreme risk and an opportunity of death.

"There are many people who have opinions and views, some ill informed, some not quite as knowledgeable as they'd like to think they are. I think we have to make sure this is not over sensationalised.

"There will be a finding, there will be an outcome and I think there'll be a positive response to this long term."

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