Hamish Harding, Shahzada Dawood and son Suleman: Who is on board Titanic sub?on June 20, 2023 at 3:37 pm

Search teams are in a race against time to find a submersible that went missing during a dive to the Titanic’s wreck on Sunday.

Contact with the small sub was lost about an hour and 45 minutes into its dive in the mid-Atlantic.

A massive search operation being run from Boston, Massachusetts, is attempting to locate the vessel and the five people on board.

Here is what we know about them.

The 58-year-old runs Action Aviation, a Dubai-based private jet dealership, and has completed several exploration feats.

He has visited the South Pole multiple times – once with former astronaut Buzz Aldrin – and flew into space in 2022 on board Blue Origin’s fifth human-crewed flight.

He holds three Guinness World Records, including longest time spent at full ocean depth during a dive to the deepest part of the Mariana Trench.

In summer 2022, he told Business Aviation Magazine that he grew up in Hong Kong, qualified as a pilot in the mid-1980s while studying at Cambridge, and set up his aircraft firm after making money in banking software.

He also said the Titanic dive was meant to take place in June 2022 but was delayed because “the submersible was unfortunately damaged on its previous dive”. He said no one was injured in the incident.

Asked about his appetite for exploration, he said: “My view is that these are all calculated risks and are well understood before we start.”

Last weekend, Mr Harding said on social media that the ship carrying the submersible had set off.

He wrote on Facebook he was “proud to finally announce” the Titanic mission was going ahead, and his company said he was “currently diving” on Sunday.

Later, his stepson Brian Szasz said in a now-deleted post on Facebook that his stepfather “has gone missing on (the) submarine.”

Friend David Mearns, a marine scientist and expedition leader, described Mr Harding as a “very charming guy” who was attracted to “extreme adventures”.

Patrick Woodhead, founder of British tour operator White Desert Antarctica, said Mr Harding was an “incredible” aviation explorer, and that his thoughts and prayers were with Mr Harding’s wife, Linda, and his sons.

Terry Virts, a retired Nasa astronaut, told the BBC’s Newshour programme that Mr Harding “is an explorer, not a thrill seeker”, and is “able to handle emergencies”.

British businessman Shahzada Dawood, 48, is from one of Pakistan’s richest families. He was travelling with his son, Suleman, a 19-year-old student, on the sub.

He lives with his wife, Christine, and other child, Alina, in Surbiton, south-west London, but the family were spending a month in Canada prior to the dive.

In a statement, his family said he was interested in “exploring different natural habitats”, and had spoken at both the United Nations and Oxford Union.

His father Hussain Dawood, was a founding patron of the King’s charity, Prince’s Trust International.

Its chief executive Will Straw said it was shocked by the news and was praying for a rescue.

Shahzada is vice-chairman of Pakistani conglomerate Engro Corporation, which said it was praying for the “swift and safe return” of them both.

He also works with his family’s foundation, the SETI Institute – a California-based research organisation – and Prince’s Trust International.

Shahzada studied at Philadelphia University in the US, and the University of Buckingham in England, where he graduated in 1998.

A statement from his parents urged “everyone to pray for their safety”.

The British Asian Trust, which Shahzada was a supporter of, also said thoughts and prayers were with the Dawood family.

CEO Richard Hawkes said: “All of us are absolutely devastated by the terrible news that our great friend and supporter Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman are on board.”

Paul-Henry Nargeolet, a former French Navy diver, was also on board.

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.

The 77-year-old is director of underwater research at a company that owns the rights to the Titanic wreck.

Family spokesman Mathieu Johann said he hoped Mr Nargeolet’s composure and military career would reassure the crew on board, even if the outcome of the operation did not depend on him.

Shortly before boarding the sub, Mr Nargeolet said he had been looking forward to an expedition next year to recover objects from the wreck, he added.

Stockton Rush is the chief executive of OceanGate, the company which runs the Titanic voyages. He is widely reported to be on the vessel.

He is an experienced engineer who has previously designed an experimental aircraft and worked on other small submersible vessels.

Mr Rush founded the company in 2009, offering customers a chance to experience deep sea travel, and made global headlines in 2021 when it began offering trips to the site of the Titanic wreck.

For $250,000 (£195,600), his company offers passengers the opportunity to get an up-close glimpse of what remains of the famous ship.

Participants travel some 370 miles (595km) on a larger ship to the area above the wreck site, then do an eight-hour dive to the Titanic on a truck-sized submersible known as Titan.

Speaking to the New York Times in 2022, he defended the business model, and said the ticket price was a “fraction of the cost of going to space and it’s very expensive for us to get these ships and go out there”.

A 2019 feature written for the website of Princeton University, where he studied, reported Mr Rush goes on every OceanGate dive.

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