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One of Pakistan’s wealthiest men, who has ties to King Charles, is confirmed to be among the five aboard the Titanic-bound submersible that vanished Sunday.
Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his son Sulaiman Dawood, 19, are two of the paying tourists who embarked on the 12,500-foot dive to view the famous shipwreck on OceanGate Expeditions sub, the Titan — 370 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, according to the Associated Press.
“We are very grateful for the concern being shown by our colleagues and friends and would like to request everyone to pray for their safety while granting the family privacy at this time,” the Dawood family wrote in a statement to the outlet.
“The family is well looked after and are praying to Allah for the safe return of their family members.”
The Titanic-bound submersible was reported missing Sunday night after it failed to return to the Canadian research ship it launched from earlier that morning.
That ship, the Polar Prince, reported losing contact with the sub about an hour and 45 minutes after submerging and has been unable to reestablish communication since.
The Dawood family is among the richest in Pakistan, with their fortune steaming from Dawood Hercules Corporation Limited, a public investment holding company that focuses on agriculture, industries, and the health sector.
Shahzada is Vice-Chairman of one of its subsidiary companies, Engro Corporation, according to his LinkedIn.
The businessman, whose family has strong ties in the UK, also sits as a board member for the Global Advisory Board for Prince Charles’ Charity, Prince’s Trust International, and on the board of trustees for the California-based SETI Institute that searches for evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence.
Shahzada was born in Pakistan but moved to the UK and studied law at the University of Buckingham.
British millionaire and world-renowned explorer Hamish Harding has also been confirmed to be onboard the vessel.
“Thoughts and prayers for my stepfather Hamish Harding as his submarine has gone missing exploring Titanic. Search and rescue mission is underway,” His stepson, Brian Szasz, wrote in a now-deleted Facebook post on Monday.
Hamish, 58, is the chairman of the aircraft firm Action Aviation and is known as a daring explorer who flew to space aboard the Blue Origin in 2022 and holds three Guinness World Records.
As Coast Guard crews begin attempting to pull off the deepest save and rescue mission in human history, concern for oxygen onboard the submersible ship weighs heavily in the shadows — with officials revealing Monday night that the vessel must be located in the next 70 to 96 hours.
The sub’s 96-hour oxygen supply has been dwindling since about 6 a.m. Sunday.
Tourist submersible exploring Titanic wreckage disappears in Atlantic Ocean
What we know
A submersible on a pricey tourist expedition to the Titanic shipwreck in the Atlantic Ocean has vanished with likely only four days’ worth of oxygen. The US Coast Guard said the small submarine began its journey underwater with five passengers Sunday morning, and the Canadian research vessel that it was working with lost contact with the crew about an hour and 45 minutes into the dive.
It was later found that a top-secret team with the US Navy detected the implosion of the Titan submersible on Sunday, but did not stop search efforts due because the evidence was “not definitive” and a decision was made to “make every effort to save the lives on board.”
Who was on board?
The family of world explorer Hamish Harding confirmed on Facebook that he was among the five traveling in the missing submarine. Harding, a British businessman who previously paid for a space ride aboard the Blue Origin rocket last year, shared a photo of himself on Sunday signing a banner for OceanGate’s latest voyage to the shipwreck.
Also onboard were Pakistani energy and tech mogul Shanzada Dawood and his son Sulaiman, 19; famed French diver and Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet, and OceanGate founder and CEO Stockton Rush.
What’s next?
“We’re doing everything we can do to locate the submersible and rescue those on board,” Rear Adm. John Mauger told reporters. “In terms of the hours, we understood that was 96 hours of emergency capability from the operator.
Coast Guard officials said they are currently focusing all their efforts on locating the sub first before deploying any vessel capable of reaching as far below as 12,500 feet where the Titanic wreck is located.
Mauger, first district commander and leader of the search-and-rescue mission, said the US was coordinating with Canada on the operation.
The debris recovered from the US Coast Guard’s Titan submersible search site early Thursday included “a landing frame and a rear cover from the submersible.”
After search efforts to recover the stranded passengers proved futile, and bits of debris from the submersible were found, it was decided that the sub imploded, which correlated with an anomaly picked up by the US Navy in the same area.
The Coast Guard later reported that all 5 passengers were confirmed dead, and rescue efforts were halted.
“While the submersible might still be intact if it is beyond the continental shelf, there are very few vessels that can get that deep, and certainly not divers,” said Alistair Greig, a professor of marine engineering at University College London.
Along with the frightening feeling of being stranded miles underwater, those aboard are likely dealing with “a very, very uncomfortable, dark experience with a lot of hope and prayers,” John Mixson, a retired US Coast Guard lieutenant commander, explained.
“From what I understand, the vessels are not designed for long-range, multi-day excursions,” Mixson said.
OceanGate Expeditions has allowed tourists to explore the Titanic’s wreckage at a staggering $250,000 per ticket since 2019.
The Coast Guard revealed its search is focusing on an area about 900 miles off the coast of Cape Cod and are using both aircraft and ships to locate the missing sub.
A remotely operated vehicle that can plunge to depths of up to 20,000 feet to the site of the missing sub has also been added to the search and rescue efforts, according to an advisor to OceanGate, David Concannon.
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