The families of Shahzada Dawood, his son Suleman, and Hamish Harding have paid tribute after they died in the Titan submersible’s catastrophic implosion. The US Coast Guard confirmed the tail cone of the deep-sea vessel was discovered around 1,600 ft from the bow of the Titanic wreckage during a press conference in Boston.
Rear Admiral John Mauger said further debris was also found, in the North Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Newfoundland, that was “consistent with a catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber”. Undersea expert Paul Hankin said five major pieces of debris helped to identify it as from the Titan submersible – including the vessel’s nose cone and the front end bell of the pressure hull.
The Dawood family released a statement on Thursday night, mourning the loss of the father and son. “Our beloved sons were aboard the OceanGate’s Titan submersible that perished underwater,” the statement said.
“Please continue to keep the departed souls of our family in your prayers during this difficult period of mourning."
The family statement said they are truly grateful to those involved in the rescue operations and the “untiring efforts” brought strength to the family. “We are also indebted to our friends, family, colleagues and well-wishers from all over the world who have stood by us during our hour of need,” the statement said.
“We extend our heartfelt condolences to the families of the other passengers onboard the Titan submersible.”
The sister of Shahzada Dawood and aunt of Suleman, Azmeh Dawood, told NBC News in the US that the 19-year-old was terrified about going on the trip. “I feel disbelief… It’s an unreal situation,” she said.
“I feel like I’ve been caught in a really bad film, with a countdown, but you didn’t know what you’re counting down to. I personally have found it kind of difficult to breathe thinking of them.”
Shahzada Dawood was vice chairman of Engro Corporation (Engro Corporation/ PA)
Shahzada Dawood’s company paid tribute to him and his son after their deaths. In a statement, Engro Corporation, the Pakistani conglomerate that Mr Dawood was vice chairman of, said: “With heavy hearts and great sadness, we grieve the loss of our vice chairman, Shahzada Dawood, and his beloved son, Suleman Dawood.
“We extend our heartfelt condolences to the family, colleagues, friends and all those around the world who grieve this unthinkable loss.”
Meanwhile, the family of a British billionaire adventurer who died have paid tribute to their “dedicated father”.
Hamish Harding was described as “a guide, an inspiration, a support, and a living legend” following the news of his death on Thursday.
Hamish Harding looks out to sea before boarding the submersible Titan for a dive into the Atlantic Ocean on an expedition to the Titanic on Sunday (Action Aviation via AP)
In a short statement, Mr Harding’s family said: “He was one of a kind and we adored him. He was a passionate explorer – whatever the terrain – who lived his life for his family, his business and for the next adventure.
“What he achieved in his lifetime was truly remarkable and if we can take any small consolation from this tragedy, it’s that we lost him doing what he loved.”
Mr Harding’s family said his death has left a “gap in our lives that can never be filled”, and that they were “united in grief” with the families of the others who had died. We know that Hamish would have been immensely proud to see how nations, experts, industry colleagues and friends came together for the search and we extend our heartfelt thanks for all their efforts,” they said.
Mr Harding was remembered by friend Richard Garriot de Cayeux, who is the president of the Explorers Club, which Mr Harding helped found. “Hamish Harding is a dear friend to me personally and to The Explorers Club,” Mr Garriot de Cayeux said.
“He holds several world records and has continued to push dragons off maps both in person and through supporting expeditions and worthy causes.”
The submersible vessel named Titan (OceanGate Expeditions)
Rear Admiral Mauger said there did not appear to be any connection between the underwater noises detected during the search and rescue mission and the location of the debris on the seafloor.
“This was a catastrophic implosion of the vessel which would have generated a significant broadband sound down there that the sonar buoys would have picked up,” he said.
The Wall Street Journal reported the US Navy said they detected a sound in the search area for the submersible on Sunday that was consistent with an implosion. Titanic director and submersible expert James Cameron told the BBC he predicted the outcome days earlier.
“I felt in my bones what had happened,” he said. “For the sub’s electronics to fail and its communication system to fail, and its tracking transponder to fail simultaneously – sub’s gone.
“I knew that sub was sitting exactly underneath its last known depth and position. That’s exactly where they found it.”
(PA Graphics)
According to court documents, safety concerns had previously been raised about the Titan submersible by a former employee of OceanGate. The filings said David Lochridge, OceanGate’s former director of marine operations, claimed wrongful dismissal after flagging worries about the company’s alleged “refusal to conduct critical, non-destructive testing of the experimental design”.
Court papers suggest Mr Lochridge “identified numerous issues that posed serious safety concerns” but he was allegedly “met with hostility and denial of access” to necessary documents before later being fired. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly described the update as “tragic news” and said the UK Government is closely supporting the British families affected.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry released a statement, sharing their condolences. “Our deepest condolences to the Dawood family and the family of other passengers on the sad news about the fate of Titanic submersible in the North Atlantic,” the statement said.
The White House said the families of those who died had “been through a harrowing ordeal over the past few days, and we are keeping them in our thoughts and prayers”.
Who were the five people aboard the Titan subamrine?
Shahzada and Suleman Dawood
The father and son were a part of Pakistan’s most prominent families.
Shahzada Dawood, 48, was the vice-chairman of Pakistani conglomerate Engro Corporation, and a long-time adviser to the King’s charity, Prince’s Trust International, with a focus on its work in Pakistan.
He lived in Surbiton, south-west London, with his son, wife Christine and daughter Alina, according to the Telegraph.
The Dawood family released a statement on Thursday night, mourning the loss of the father and son.
“Please continue to keep the departed souls of our family in your prayers during this difficult period of mourning.
The family statement said they are truly grateful to those involved in the rescue operations and their “untiring efforts” brought strength to the family.
The statement said: “We are also indebted to our friends, family, colleagues and well-wishers from all over the world who have stood by us during our hour of need.
“We extend our heartfelt condolences to the families of the other passengers onboard the Titan submersible.”
A separate family statement reported by the BBC said Shahzada was interested in “exploring different natural habitats”, and had previously spoken at both the United Nations and Oxford Union.
Suleman was described as a “big fan of science fiction literature and learning new things”, with an interest in Rubik’s Cubes and playing volleyball.
Mr Dawood became a director of the Dawood Hercules Corporation in 1996, and served as vice chairman between 2018 to 2021, according to his LinkedIn profile. The company is an investment holding platform, of which Engro Corporation is a subsidiary.
Alongside his work in business, he was a supporter of the British Asian Trust, an organisation and a trustee of the Seti Institute.
Shahzada’s father, Hussain Dawood, was a founding patron of Prince’s Trust International, according to the charity.
Stockton Rush
The chief executive and founder of OceanGate Expeditions, Stockton Rush originally trained as a pilot, becoming the youngest jet transport-rated pilot in the world aged 19 in 1981, according to his profile on the OceanGate website.
He graduated from Princeton with a degree in aerospace engineering in 1984, the profile says.
Mr Rush was described as “highly professional” alongside pilot Paul-Henri Nargeolet by a businessman who Mr Rush led on a previous visit to the Titanic wreck.
OceanGate said in a statement that the men were “true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion of exploring and protecting the world’s oceans”.
“Our hearts are with these five souls and every member of their families during this tragic time.”
Mike Reiss, a writer and producer of The Simpsons, described him as a “magnetic man” who is “the last of the great American dreamers”, the New York Times reported.
Mr Reiss, who went on a Titanic dive in a different OceanGate submersible with Mr Rush, also compared him to business magnates Henry Ford and the Wright brothers.
In a 2017 interview with the alumni magazine for Princeton University, where he studied mechanical aerospace engineering, Mr Rush said: “I was interested in exploration. I thought it was space exploration. I thought it was Star Trek and 2001: A Space Odyssey and Star Wars … and then I realised, it’s all in the ocean.”
Having co-founded OceanGate in 2009, Mr Rush has led crewed expeditions to remote ocean locations including the Titanic.
He was also the founder and member of the board of trustees of the linked charity organisation OceanGate Foundation, which uses marine technology to develop understanding of marine science, history and archaeology.
Paul-Henri Nargeolet
A former commander who served in the French navy for 25 years, Mr Nargeolet, 77, was in the first human expedition to visit the ship in 1987, according to the Telegraph.
His family released a statement after his death, saying he will be remembered as “one of the greatest deep-sea explorers in modern history”.
“When you think of the Titanic and all we know about the ship today, you will think of Paul-Henri Nargeolet and his legendary work.
“But what we will remember him most for is his big heart, his incredible sense of humour and how much he loved his family.
“We will miss him today and every day for the rest of our lives.”
After his career in the French navy, where he was captain of the deep submergence group, he held a number of roles in deep diving and piloting submersibles, including acting as director of DESM, noted on his LinkedIn profile as a French deep-diving equipment company.
As director of the Underwater Research Programme with RMS Titanic Inc, which owns the rights to the Titanic wreck, he has led the retrieval of items from the ship across many expeditions.
Born in Chamonix, France, he spent his childhood in Africa with his parents, according to the Daily Mail.
Mr Nargeolet was married to American newsreader Michelle Marsh until her death in 2017 aged 63, according to the New York Times.
Last year, Mr Nargeolet published a book in France about his experiences with the Titanic titled Dans Les Profondeurs Du Titanic (In The Depths Of The Titanic).
Hamish Harding
The billionaire pilot and chair of Action Aviation, a sales and operations company which manages private jet sales, shared on his Instagram account that he had joined the OceanGate expedition as a “mission specialist”.
Mr Harding, 58, was based in the UAE where the Action Aviation HQ is located, and presents himself in personal social media biographies as a “world explorer”.
In a short statement, his family said: “He was one of a kind and we adored him.
“He was a passionate explorer – whatever the terrain – who lived his life for his family, his business and for the next adventure.
“What he achieved in his lifetime was truly remarkable and if we can take any small consolation from this tragedy, it’s that we lost him doing what he loved.”
Mr Harding was remembered by friend Richard Garriot de Cayeux, who is the president of the Explorers Club, which Mr Harding helped found.
In a statement, Mr Garriot de Cayeux said: “Hamish Harding is a dear friend to me personally and to The Explorers Club.
“He holds several world records and has continued to push dragons off maps both in person and through supporting expeditions and worthy causes.”
He has two sons, named Rory and Giles, a stepdaughter named Lauren and a stepson, Brian Szasz, and his wife is called Linda.
On the Action Aviation website profile, Mr Harding writes that the company is the “professional representative of choice” for large aircraft transactions between heads of state, VIPs, Fortune 100 companies and international corporations”.
Mr Harding holds several Guinness world records, including the fastest circumnavigation of the Earth via the North and South Poles by an aircraft, in 46 hours, 40 minutes and 22 seconds.
In March 2021, he was awarded the record for the longest time traversing the deepest part of the ocean on a single dive, alongside Victor Vescovo, at four hours and 15 minutes along the sea floor of Challenger Deep in the western Pacific Ocean.
He said he often took his son Giles with him on these trips, including another world-record beating journey to the South Pole when Giles, aged 12, became the youngest person to have visited.
Last year, he took part in the fifth human space flight by Jeff Bezos’s aerospace company Blue Origin, according to Sky News.
