Missing Titanic submarine with less than 35 hours of oxygen left with 5 on board, including Pakistan billionaire and son, Shahzada and Sulaiman Dawood, British millionaire and world-renowned explorer Hamish Harding, former French diver, Paul-Henry Nargeolet and OceanGate CEO, Stockton Rush.
Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his son Sulaiman Dawood
Is there any hope for the 5 trapped in a missing deep submarine?
One of Pakistan’s wealthiest men with ties to King Charles, is confirmed to be among the five aboard the Titanic-bound submersible that vanished Sunday morning. The 22ft vessel, feared to be thousands of feet under sea level had yet to be recovered with a limited air supply fast dwindling set to expire on Thursday, 6am, E.S.T.
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, AP reported.
Initial 96-hour oxygen supply
Father and son are part of five thought to be trapped somewhere above the Titanic wreck, including the sub’s pilot, a renowned British adventurer and a Titanic expert.
Authorities reported the vessel overdue Sunday night about 435 miles (700 kilometers) south of St. John’s, Newfoundland, according to Canada’s Joint Rescue Coordination Center.
The Canadian research icebreaker Polar Prince, which was supporting the Titan, reportedly lost contact with the vessel about an hour and 45 minutes after it submerged. The ship has been unable to reestablish communication.
The submersible had a 96-hour oxygen supply when it put to sea at roughly 6 a.m. Sunday, according to David Concannon, an adviser to OceanGate. That means the oxygen supply could run out by approximately 6 a.m. Thursday, E.S.T.
There are no seats and only one toilet – a small black box – with a black curtain drawn across for privacy. All passengers are barefoot and must sit on the floor.
According to the company, the Titan is capable of diving 13,120ft ‘with a comfortable safety margin’.
It takes the craft around two hours to descend approximately 12,500ft – where the Titanic wreck lies in a trench in the Atlantic.
The vessel, which weighs around 23,000lbs (10,432kg), operates by pinging back a message every 15 minutes to signal to those ashore that it is safe.
Those pings have stopped.
To date it remained unclear whether the Titan was still underwater or had surfaced and was unable to communicate.
Billionaire no match for gravity
Reports described the missing Pakistan billionaire father and son as part of the Dawood family, who are among the richest in Pakistan, with their fortune steaming from Dawood Hercules Corporation Limited, a public company focusing 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.
‘My view is that these are all calculated risks and are well understood before we start’
‘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.
Asked about his appetite for exploration, Harding previously said: ‘My view is that these are all calculated risks and are well understood before we start. I should add that I do not go out seeking these opportunities, people tend to bring them to me and I keep saying ‘yes’.’
Also on board the missing Titanic sub was Paul-Henry Nargeolet, 77, a former French Navy diver. Nicknamed Mr Titanic, he has reportedly spent more time at the wreck than any other explorer and was part of the first expedition to visit it in 1987, just two years after it was found.
Shortly before boarding the sub, Nargeolet said he had been looking forward to an expedition next year to recover objects from the wreck, he added.
Marine scientist David Mearns, who knew Mr Nargeolet professionally, said he would have visited the wreckage many times and would understand the seabed and know to stay calm in the circumstances.
The fifth individual onboard was confirmed as Stockton Rush, the chief executive of OceanGate.
Rush previously told media in June 2021 that the Titan’s technology was ‘very cutting edge’ and was developed with the help of NASA and aerospace manufacturers.
Titanic expedition leader, G. Michael Harris, says more people have been to outer space than the depth of the ocean that the missing Titanic tour submarine is. He says there’s nothing the Navy can do right now and things aren’t looking good.
@police_frequency pic.twitter.com/1KmEh9T2p5
— sherriroseA (@SherriRose711) June 20, 2023
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.
‘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.
Y’all please watch this. It’s a CBS story that aired a while back about that submarine that is now missing. The creators of that missing submarine are DEEPLY unserious. pic.twitter.com/B6JriITyZj
— Marie, MSN, APRN, FNP-C (@FnpMarieOH) June 19, 2023
‘From what I understand, the vessels are not designed for long-range, multi-day excursions,’
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.
Former Royal Navy commander Ryan Ramsey, 53, today warned there is ‘no way’ of rescuing the crew if the tiny craft is still thousands of feet under the sea because the technology required ‘doesn’t exist’.
However, the vessel could well be floating on the surface of the water, meaning it will be easier for rescue crews to locate the submarine before the air runs out.
OceanGate Expeditions has allowed tourists to explore the Titanic’s wreckage at a cost of $250,000 per ticket since it becoming commercially operatable in 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.
The Titan is designed to carry five people and has ‘life support’ for 96 hours for the crew, according to the firm’s website. At time of publishing, the submersile had just on 36 hours of air left.
