Tourism to the Titanic wreck will resume despite the Titan submarine tragedy last month that left five dead, an expert has claimed.
The wreckage of the sub was found strewn across the sea floor five days after it lost contact with the mothership - Polar Prince.
Jessica Sanders, president of Royal Mail Ship Titanic, Inc., knew one of the victims - pilot Paul-Henri Nargeolet. She says he would have wanted tourism to the wreck to continue.
Ms Sanders explained he believed "it shouldn't be just for a handful of people who can afford to get there."
She added: "It's difficult because this one ended in a tragedy. But do I think the response is you should never be able to go? Then that contradicts a person that I deeply respected."
OceanGate Expeditions, the owner of the submersible, advertised a visit to the site for paying tourists.
Its five passengers included British billionaire Hamish Harding, businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son and OceanGate’s CEO and co-founder Stockton Rush.
Also killed was French diver and Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet.
His friend Ms Sanders shared his conviction saying: "Everybody should be able to see the artifacts, and it shouldn't be just a millionaire, a billionaire or the military or a filmmaker that can go down to the wreck site."
RMS Titanic, Inc. (RMST) was the only company allowed to salvage from the doomed ship.
Ms Sanders has also warned the implosion of the Titan sub may have damaged the Titanic wreck.
She told the New York Post: "That’s part of our concern, and that was part of our concern when they started tourist expeditions."
She added: "There have been a lot of expeditions in the last couple of years. They say that they didn’t do anything... We just need to verify."
Ms Sanders said visiting the wreck is like "going to a museum" where people need to be respectful of what is around them.
RMST is also partly responsible for conservation of the site and visitors to it must follow strict guidelines when navigating the 2.5 square-mile area.
Titan suffered what was likely a "catastrophic implosion" near the wreck and a debris field was found around 1,600 feet from the bow.
The distance from the wreck means it is unlikely Titanic suffered further damage from the Titan implosion, but this has not been confirmed.
She added: “Again, we have no reason to believe that the Titan submersible came in contact with the wreck site. The investigation is ongoing.”
