- Titan, a submersible vehicle, went missing on Jun. 19 when on a trip to view the wreckage of the Titanic.
- There were five people aboard, including Pakistani billionaire Sahzada Dawood and British businessman Hamish Harding.
- Rolling Stone reported that the Department of Homeland Security heard ‘banging sounds’ while searching for the sub.
- The Coast Guard announced the next day that a debris field was discovered in the Titanic submersible search area. Hours later, the OceanGate, the tour company behind the vessel, released a statement confirming their belief that all the passengers were ‘lost’.
A sad end to a terrifying saga. After days of searching, OceanGate, the tour company behind the tourist submersible vessel that vanished while on its way to see the Titanic’s wreckage in the North Atlantic Ocean, announced that they believe all 5 passengers have “sadly been lost.” “We now believe that our CEO Stockton Rush, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood, Hamish Harding, and Paul-Henri Nargeolet, have sadly been lost,” the company said in a statement.
“These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world’s oceans,” according to the statement. “Our hearts are with these five souls and every member of their families during this tragic time. We grieve the loss of life and joy they brought to everyone they knew.” The US Coast Guard announced earlier in the day that a debris field was discovered by a remotely operated vehicle near the Titanic submersible search area on June 22. In an official tweet, they shared that the authorities are “evaluating the information,” and would have more information soon.
A debris field was discovered within the search area by an ROV near the Titanic. Experts within the unified command are evaluating the information. 1/2
— USCGNortheast (@USCGNortheast) June 22, 2023
The debris discovered had been identified to be from the external body of the sub. However, the crew capsule remains lost, according to officials who spoke at a press conference after the debris was found. The debris, specifically the tail cone of the Titan, was located on the ocean floor roughly 1,600 feet off of the bow of the Titanic, and it was found around 8:55 a.m. ET. Ultimately, the debris found was “consistent with the catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber,” the Coast Guard explained. Rear Adm. John Mauger, the First Coast Guard District commander, told reporters at the press conference, “The outpouring of support in this highly complex search operation has been robust and immensely appreciated. We are grateful for the rapid mobilization of experts on the undersea search and rescue, and we thank all of the agencies and personnel for their role in the response. We’re also incredibly grateful for the full spectrum of international assistance that’s been provided.”
BREAKING: The U.S. Coast Guard announces that debris found 1,600 feet away from the Titanic wreckage "is consistent with the catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber" of the Titan. pic.twitter.com/gxPIQqK2LZ
— ABC News Live (@ABCNewsLive) June 22, 2023
Rolling Stone published an email sent to the Department of Homeland Security just the day before, and in the missive, the DHS shared that crews heard banging sounds at 30-minute intervals while searching. “RCC Halifax launched a P8, Poseidon, which has underwater detection capabilities from the air,” the DHS email read, according to Rolling Stone. “The P8 deployed sonobuoys, which reported a contact in a position close to the distress position. The P8 heard banging sounds in the area every 30 minutes. Four hours later additional sonar was deployed, and banging was still heard.” The message didn’t state what time the banging was heard or what may have caused it.
Another DHS email, this time obtained by CNN, reported the discovery of “additional acoustic feedback” that was “heard and will assist in vectoring surface assets and also indicating continued hope of survivors.” According to the Washington Post, U.S. Navy officials said on Thursday that the Navy’s acoustic sensors detected what was likely the fatal implosion of the vessel, just hours after it set out from Newfoundland on Sunday. The news indicated that officials may have been aware of the potential fate of the OceanGate vessel, even amid the massive search for survivors.
On Tuesday (June 20), U.S. Coast Guard Captain Jamie Federick announced that the submersible had an estimated 40-41 hours of oxygen left of its 96-hour oxygen “reserve capacity,” per PEOPLE. The DHS email that RS published stated that “the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre is working to find an underwater remote-operated vehicle through partner organizations to possibly assist.” Previous reports stated that the Navy’s manned rescue crap can only descend 2,000 feet underwater, and if Titan was discovered closer to the aprox. 13,000 foot depth of the Titanic, a drome or remote-operated vehicle would be needed to rescue to the vehicle.
The Titanic tourist submarine was carrying five people when it went missing on Sunday, June 19. The OceanGate Expeditions-owned submersible, named Titan, was submerged in the North Atlantic Ocean to view the wreckage of the iconic boat that sank in 1912, when the Titan’s mothership lost contact with the small vessel, according to CBS News. The Titan was roughly 900 miles east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and around 13,000 feet deep in the water, when it disappeared. The US Coast Guard has begun a search for the missing vessel and the passengers onboard.
The story of the missing Titanic submersible has captivated the world. And everyone is praying for the five people who were onboard the vessel. Get to know those five people — which includes a billionaire and his son — below.
Shahzada Dawood
Pakistani billionaire Shahzada Dawood is confirmed to be one of the missing passengers on the Titan. He was onboard the vessel with his son, Suelan Dawood, 19 their family confirmed in a statement to the BBC. The statement said that Shahzada, who is a British citizen, is married and has two children. Shahzada is Vice Chairman of Pakistan’s Engro Corporation and has worked with the Engro Foundation, The Dawood Foundation, the SETI Institute, and Prince’s Trust International, the statement said. He has also “spoken passionately at the United Nations in 2020 on International Day for Women & Girls in Science and Oxford Union in 2022.”
Suleman Dawood
Shahzada’s son Suleman Dawood was onboard the Titan with his father, when it went missing. Suleman, 19, is currently a university student, his family confirmed in their statement. They said Suleman “is big fan of science fiction literature and learning new things,” and “also takes a keen interest in solving Rubik’s Cubes and enjoys playing volleyball.”
https://twitter.com/OceanGateExped/status/1670876600152526848
Hamish Harding
British businessman Hamish Harding was also onboard the Titan. Hamish is a trained jet pilot and owner of global sales company Action Aviation who lives in the United Arab Emirates, according to CNN. Hamish announced that he was joining the underwater expedition on Facebook Friday, June 17. “I am proud to finally announce that I joined OceanGate Expeditions for their RMS TITANIC Mission as a mission specialist on the sub going down to the Titanic,” Hamish wrote. “Due to the worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years, this mission is likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023. A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow. We started steaming from St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada yesterday and are planning to start dive operations around 4am tomorrow morning. Until then we have a lot of preparations and briefings to do.”
Hamish was previously on a dive to Challenger Deep in the Pacific Ocean in 2020, and was involved in two record-breaking trips to the South Pole in 2016 and 2020, according to CNN. He also paid to be on the Blue Origin space flight in 2022. Hamish’s friend and fellow explorer Jannicke Mikkelsen told CNN that Hamish is “larger than life” and “is an explorer to the core of his soul.”
A @USCG C-130 crew is searching for an overdue Canadian research submarine approximately 900 miles off #CapeCod.
For more info and inquiries, please email d1publicaffairs@uscg.mil
— USCGNortheast (@USCGNortheast) June 19, 2023
Paul-Henri Nargeolet
The fourth person missing on the Titan is French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet. Paul-Henri’s family confirmed that he was onboard the vessel. He was a part of the first expedition to visit the Titanic wreck in 1987, according to CBS News. Paul-Henri was the director of underwater research at RMS Titanic Inc., and he completed 35 dives to the wreckage and helped recover 5,000 artifacts from the ship. Paul-Henri was also a member of the French Navy.
Stockton Rush
Stockton Rush was the fifth and final person to be confirmed missing on the Titan. Stockton, who is in his 60s, and lives in Seattle, is the CEO and founder of OceanGate, the company in charge of the voyage gone wrong, according to CNN. Stockton has a degree from Princeton University in aerospace engineering and an MBA from UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, according to The Seattle Times. Stockton has been apart of failed visits to the Titanic wreckage before, including in 2018, when his vessel was struck by lighting, which caused the mission to be aborted. In an ironic twist, Stockton’s wife, Wendy Rush, descends from a couple who died when the Titanic hit an iceberg and sank in 1912.