A submarine on a tourism expedition to document the wreckage of the Titanic has gone missing in the deep waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Two Pakistanis were also on board and part of the five-member expedition team.
According to the details, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman had embarked on the journey to visit the remnants of the Titanic in the Atlantic Ocean. The Dawood family issued a statement, confirming to the media that the two family members were on board the mission and had lost communication.
Shahzada Dawood is based in the UK, and is a trustee at the SETI Institute. He joined the Board of Engro Corporation in 2003 and currently serves as its vice chairman.
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Dubai-based billionaire Hamish Harding is also on board the missing submarine. Harding himself had posted on Facebook a day earlier that he would be aboard the submarine. There have been no posts from him since.
British billionaire Hamish Harding is one of the passengers on board the missing Titanic submarine.
'What was exciting for him about going in this submersible?' @susannareid100 speaks to Hamish's friend, Colonel Terry Virts who said they didn't 'speak about the risks.' pic.twitter.com/ctYNuIHk6C
— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) June 20, 2023
More about the missing submersible
The missing Titanic submarine is believed to be OceanGate’s Titan submersible, a truck-sized sub that holds five people and usually dives with a four-day emergency supply of oxygen.
The Titanic sank in 1912 and the shipwreck remains are at the bottom of the Atlantic. Tour firm OceanGate operates $250,000-a-seat tourist dives to explore the wreck.
OceanGate’s vessel was reported overdue on Sunday night about 435 miles (700 kilometers) south of St. John’s, Newfoundland, according to Canada’s Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Read more: Titanic is eroding away, and will soon be unrecognizable
The craft submerged Sunday morning, embarking on its 5th mission, and its support vessel, the Canadian research icebreaker Polar Prince, lost contact with it about an hour and 45 minutes later. Officials are in a race against time to find the submersible. The sub has enough oxygen to last underwater until 12pm local time on Thursday.