All five passengers on board missing Titanic submarine named
Hamish Harding, Stockton Rush, Paul-Henry Nargeolet, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman are understood to be trapped on the submarine.
All five people believed to be on board the stranded Titan submarine have been named - including a father and son and a British billionaire.
Hamish Harding, Stockton Rush, Paul-Henry Nargeolet, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman are understood to be trapped on the vessel.
Rescue crews are frantically searching the Atlantic Ocean after the submarine disappeared while heading to the wreckage of the Titanic, The Sun reports.
US Coast Guard officials believe the submarine only has enough oxygen to last until midday Thursday.
Four families are now facing a heartbreaking wait for news as planes and boats scour the North Atlantic.
Sonar buoys are being dropped by aircraft as they try to find the tiny sub - which is just 22ft long and can only carry five crew.
Titan is understood to have lost contact with the Polar Prince just one hour and 45 minutes into the expedition.
Every 15 minutes, Titan also sends ‘pings’ to the Polar Prince.
The final of these messages is understood to have been sent at around 12am (AEST) on Tuesday directly above the Titanic, reports The Times.
After that, no contact was had with the vessel at all - and the five men on board’s fate is currently unknown.
Hamish Harding
Hamish Harding, 58, is a British businessman, aviator and space tourist - known for his incredible adventures.
He is based in Dubai and he holds a number of Guinness World Records for his daring exploits.
The billionaire posted to social media about his long-awaited voyage to the Titanic.
He said: “A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow.”
Harding’s stepson confirmed he had gone missing shortly after the sub was reported to have vanished.
Shahzada and Suleman Dawood
Shahzada Dawood, 48, is one of Pakistan’s richest men and he is understood to have been on board with his son, Suleman, 19.
He has strong links to the UK - having studied law and the University of Buckingham and being a board membet of the Prince’s Trust.
The Dawood family has a mansion in Surrey where Shahzada lives with Suleman, his wife Christine, and daughter Alina.
“We are very grateful for the concern being shown by our colleagues and friends and would like to request everyone to pray for their safety,” said a family statement.
Dawood is the vice chairman of Engro Corporation, which makes fertilisers, food and energy, as well as the chemical firm Dawood Hercules Corporation.
Paul-Henry Nargeolet
Paul-Henry Nargeolet, 73, is a veteran submarine pilot and longtime researcher of the wreck of the Titanic.
He spent 20 years in the French Navy before joining the French Institute for Research and Exploitation of the Sea.
Nargeolet led the first recovery expedition to the Titanic in 1987.
He had previously spoken about the extreme dangers of deep sea travel.
“If you are 11m or 11km down, if something bad happens, the result is the same,” said the diver.
“When you’re in very deep water, you’re dead before you realise that something is happening, so it’s just not a problem.”
Stockton Rush
Stockton Rush, CEO of OceanGate Expeditions which runs the missing submersible, was also on board.
OceanGate is one of the few companies in the world that runs commercial voyages down to the Titanic.
Rush founded the firm back in 2009.
At the age of 19, he became the youngest jet transport-rated pilot in the world after obtaining his DC-8 Type/Captain’s rating at the United Airlines Jet Training Institute in 1981.
He has a BSE in Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University and an MBA from the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business.
OceanGate, one of few companies offering trips to see the ruins, confirmed a major search mission has been launched to “bring the crew back safely”.
Tickets for tourists to see the wreckage - which is around 600km off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada - cost up to £195,000 ($366,789)
The company previously revealed it uses Elon Musk’s Starlink to communicate with the vessel, however, it’s not clear what has gone wrong with the network.
Time is running out
OceanGate’s sub - Titan - has the capacity for one pilot and four others and an air supply able to last 96 hours.
US Coast Guard believe they have until Thursday to rescue the stranded sub before they run out of oxygen.
A spokesman for OceanGate said: “We are exploring and mobilising all options to bring the crew back safely.
“Our entire focus is on the crew members in the submersible and their families.
“We are deeply thankful for the extensive assistance we have received from several government agencies and deep sea companies in our efforts to re-establish contact with the submersible.
“We are working toward the safe return of the crew members.”
US Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger said US and Canadian ships and planes have swarmed the area, some dropping sonar buoys that can monitor to a depth of 13,000ft.
Former US nuclear submarine commander David Marquet warned it is “too deep” for military submarines to save them and a highly specialised vessel similar to Titan needs to be rushed over from another part of the world.
He believes there is less than a one per cent chance of the crew surviving “if they are on the bottom”.
Captain Marquet told Good Morning Britain: “Time is running out in terms of their supply of oxygen, which they’re going to want to try and extend.
“If they’re still alive, they’re going to want to try to relax, minimise their oxygen use, minimise all physical activity, they’re not going to want to panic and get excited and they’re going to want to take naps because that’s a good way to minimise your oxygen use.”
The Titanic sank on its maiden voyage to New York on April 14, 1912, after hitting an iceberg.
More than 1,500 of the 2,200 passengers and crew on-board were killed, and many died within minutes of being thrown into the -2C waters.
The decaying wreck of the 822ft liner was first discovered in 1985 but due to its depth and strong currents even the best underwater cameras have only offered a small snapshot into its colossal remains.
Its bow and the stern that broke apart during the sinking lie more than 2,600ft apart and are surrounded by an unending field of exposed debris.
But last month, the ship’s haunting wreck was revealed as never before in stunningly detailed 3D scans on the ocean floor.
Scientists hope the high-resolution digital images - the clearest view ever of the world’s most famous shipwreck - could shed new light on the disaster.
The British luxury passenger liner took under three years to construct, costing around £1.5 million ($2.8m) - equating to about £170million ($320m) today.
Thousands of workers were involved in the project, with some 14,000 men employed during the peak of construction.
The frame was fully formed in just over a year, with the shell plating finished shortly afterwards.
The steamship was released from its dry dock in 1911 and work on the interior began.
Just eight days before its maiden voyage, it was declared seaworthy.
This story was first published in The Sun and was reproduced with permission.
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