‘True Explorers’: The five men who died on the missing Titanic tourist submersible

On Sunday, an adventurous mission ended in disaster when the submersible vanished less than two hours after setting out on its journey, hauntingly reviving memories and accounts of the “Titanic” ship sinking. The RMS Titanic sank in 1912, killing over 1,500 people. The maritime accident was the deadliest ship sinking and continues to be the worst cruise ship sinking ever to occur during peacetime. After embarking on a 22-foot submersible trip to view the Titanic ruins in the North Atlantic Ocean, five men—including one teenager—are currently presumed to have died. OceanGate, the company that organised the trip on the Titan submersible to the Titanic, announced on Thursday that all of the crew members - including its founder and CEO who served as the mission’s pilot - were “lost at sea.” Additionally, the US Coast Guard reported that wreckage from the ship had been discovered on the ocean floor, “consistent with catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber,” as per USA Today. [caption id=“attachment_12778462” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] On Monday, June 19, 2023, a rescue operation was underway deep in the Atlantic Ocean in search of the technologically advanced submersible vessel carrying five people to document the wreckage of the Titanic, the iconic ocean liner that sank more than a century earlier. AP[/caption] The passengers were well known for their zeal for extreme adventure, desire for collecting Titanic artefacts, or extravagant wealth. Each passenger aboard the submersible paid $250,000 to ride. According to the Coast Guard, the mend’s families were informed of their deaths. “These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world’s oceans. Our hearts are with these five souls and every member of their families during this tragic time,” OceanGate said in a statement yesterday. In a press conference, US Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger said he was unsure as to whether the agency will be able to recover the dead. “This is an incredibly unforgiving environment down there on the seafloor,” he said.

The following individuals boarded the submersible: Also read: Titanic tourist submersible goes missing: Why it is difficult to find the vanished vessel OceanGate’s CEO Stockton Rush Although his background was in aerospace and technology, Stockton Rush founded OceanGate Inc. in 2009 to provide crewed submersibles for undersea researchers and explorers, according to the company’s website. He was also the co-founder of the non-profit organisation OceanGate Foundation, “which aims to catalyse emerging marine technology to further discoveries in marine science, history, and archaeology,” according to the company’s website. The private company based in Washington started bringing tourists to the Titanic in 2021 as part of its effort to chronicle the slow deterioration of the wreck. Rush was the Titan’s pilot, according to the company spokesperson Andrew Von Kerens. “The ocean is taking this thing, and we need to document it before it all disappears or becomes unrecognisable,” Rush told The Associated Press in 2021. Last year at a conference in Seattle, he said, “One of the reasons I started the business was because I didn’t understand why we were spending 1,000 times as much money to explore space as we were to explore… the oceans. There is no private access to the deep ocean, and yet there’s all this life to be discovered.” In an interview with CBS News last year, Rush defended the safety of his submersible but said nothing is without risk. “What I worry about most are things that will stop me from being able to get to the surface — overhangs, fish nets, entanglement hazard," he said, adding that a good pilot can avoid such perils. [caption id=“attachment_12778572” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] OceanGate CEO and co-founder Stockton Rush speaks in front of a projected image of the wreckage of the ocean liner SS Andrea Doria during a presentation on their findings after an undersea exploration in Boston. AP[/caption] Notably, Rush became the youngest jet transport-rated pilot in the world at age 19 in 1981, and flew commercial jets in college, according to his company biography. He joined McDonnell Douglas Corp. in 1984 as a flight test engineer. Over the past 20 years, he oversaw the development of multiple successful IP ventures. Before graduating from Princeton University with a degree in aerospace engineering in 1984 and obtaining a master’s degree in business administration from the University of California in 1989, Rush had obtained his captain’s rating at the United Airlines Jet Training Institute. He went on to oversee business ventures that included serving on the board of Seattle’s BlueView Technologies and as chairman of Remote Control Technology. There is a need for improvements in research submersibles, according to Greg Stone, a close friend of Rush and the former executive vice president and chief scientist for Conservation International. “That’s the direction he was going in. And I liked where he was going,” Stone said, adding that Rush “had the problem that a lot of frontier people have. And that is he was ahead of the regulations.” Furthermore, in 1986, he married Wendy Hollings Weil, a licensed pilot, substitute teacher and account manager for magazine publishing consultants. She became the director of communications for OceanGate. Wendy’s grandfather, Richard Weil Jr., was president of Macy’s New York, and she was the great-great-granddaughter of the retailing magnate Isidor Straus and his wife, Ida, two of the wealthiest people to die when the Titanic sank. Isidor Straus was a co-owner of Macy’s. [caption id=“attachment_12778732” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Isidor and Ida Straus were the first-class passengers who died on the Titanic, around 1910. The New York Times[/caption] Survivors of the Titanic recalled seeing Isidor Straus refuse a seat on a lifeboat when women and children were still waiting to flee the sinking liner. Ida Straus, his wife of four decades, declared that she would not leave her husband, and the two were seen standing arm in arm on the Titanic’s deck as the ship went down. Also read: What’s the Titanic sub, which charges Rs 2.02 cr for expedition, that has vanished? British billionaire explorer Hamish Harding With a residence in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Hamish Harding, 58, served as chairman of Action Aviation, an organisation that brokers aeroplanes. The billionaire adventurer held three Guinness World Records related to his explorations by plane and into the deep ocean. In March 2021, he and ocean explorer Victor Vescovo dived to the lowest depth of the Mariana Trench. In June 2022, he went into space on Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket. In a Facebook post on Saturday, Harding said he was “proud” to be part of the mission. [caption id=“attachment_12778582” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Astronaut Hamish Harding received his Blue Origin astronaut pin after a successful flight to space on 4 June 2022, in Van Horn, Texas. AP[/caption] According to The New York Times, Harding wrote on Facebook a day before the Titan voyage, “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 4 am tomorrow morning. Until then we have a lot of preparations and briefings to do." The Explorers Club president Richard Garriott de Cayoux wrote a letter to “fellow explorers” on Twitter on Thursday to express his sorrow over the passing of his pals Harding and Paul-Henry Nargeolet. “They were both drawn to explore, like so many of us and did so in the name of meaningful science for the betterment of mankind. Their memories will be a blessing and will continue to inspire us in the name of exploration," he wrote. French maritime and Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet Paul Henri-Nargeolet, 73, served as the director of underwater research for RMS Titanic, Inc. and E/M Group. According to the website of EMGroup, the former French navy officer successfully dove in a submersible into the Titanic debris 37 times and “supervised the recovery of 5,000 artefacts.” The website also claims that he is “widely considered the leading authority on the wreck site.” The company said in a statement on Thursday, “The maritime world has lost an iconic and inspirational leader in deep-sea exploration, and we have lost a dear and treasured friend." [caption id=“attachment_12778662” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Commander Paul-Henri Nargeolet laughs, at Black Falcon Pier in Boston on 1 September 1996. AP[/caption] P.H. was born in Chamonix, France, and after spending 13 years there with his family, returned to France at the age of 16 to finish his education in Paris. Later, he enlisted in the French Navy, where he served for 22 years and rose through the ranks to the position of Commander, according to the corporate website. Nargeolet was the expedition leader on the most technologically advanced dive to the Titanic in 2010, which used high-resolution sonar and 3D optical imaging on the Titanic’s bow and stern sections as well as the debris field. While with the French Institute for Research and Exploitation of Sea, he led the first recovery expedition to the Titanic in 1987. According to David Mearns, a dive expert, Harding is “a terrific character,” while Nargeolet is “almost a legend really in the field of deep-sea exploration,” BBC reported. Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood Shahzada Dawood was the vice chair of Engro Corp., a business conglomerate headquartered in Pakistan in the southern port city of Karachi that is involved in agriculture, energy and telecommunications. His family is known as one of the wealthiest business families in the country. Dawood’s work focused on renewable energy and technology, according to a statement from his family. He was on the board of trustees for the Dawood Foundation, an education nonprofit, and on the board of the SETI Institute, a non-profit research organisation. The Dawoods lived in the UK, according to SETI. [caption id=“attachment_12778702” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] The missing submersible Titan imploded near the wreckage of the Titanic, killing all five people, including Shahzada Dawood. AP[/caption] The British Pakistani businessman was also a member of the Global Advisory Board at the Prince’s Trust International, founded by Britain’s King Charles III to address youth unemployment. He studied law as an undergraduate student at Buckingham University in Britain and later received a master’s in global textile marketing from Philadelphia University, which is now part of Thomas Jefferson University. In 2012, Dawood was selected as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. He had more than 20 years of experience “in corporate governance” and “the transformation of industries, including growth and innovation opportunities through mergers and acquisitions of diversified public-listed companies across textiles, fertilisers, foods, and energy,” according to his profile on the website of the World Economic Forum. “He aspires to a sustainable future and believes in inclusive business models involving low-income communities building value chains along business interests,” the profile says. He is survived by his wife, Christine Dawood, and his daughter, Alia. Suleman Dawood Suleman Dawood, 19, was a business student at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland, and had just completed his first year, according to a spokesperson for the school. Like his father, he was a fan of science fiction books and also enjoyed solving Rubik’s Cubes and playing volleyball, according to a statement from Engro. In his role at Engro, Dawood advocated “a culture of learning, sustainability and diversity,” according to the company statement. He was also involved in his family’s charitable ventures, including the Engro Foundation, which supports small-scale farmers, and the Dawood Foundation, an education-focused nonprofit. [caption id=“attachment_12778722” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] According to reports, Suleman expressed anxiety to his family members about the tour and said he “wasn’t very up for it.” AP[/caption] “The relationship between Shahzada and Suleman was a joy to behold; they were each other’s greatest supporters and cherished a shared passion for adventure and exploration of all the world had to offer them. This unwavering curiosity built the foundation for a close friendship between the two," according to a statement from the Dawood family. The elder sister of Shahzada Dawood, Azmeh Dawood told NBC News that she was “absolutely heartbroken” over the fatalities. “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,” she said, She continued by saying that one of their relatives heard her nephew Suleman say he was “terrified” about the trip. Suleman went on the trip with his father, she told NBC News, since it was important to his “Titanic-obsessed” father. According to reports, Suleman expressed anxiety to his family members about the tour and said he “wasn’t very up for it.” The CEO of the SETI Institute, Bill Diamond, shared the deaths of Dawood and his son in a message to the “friends, followers, and community of the SETI Institute” on Thursday. “Shahzada was passionately curious and an enthusiastic supporter of the SETI Institute and our mission, being directly involved in philanthropic programs in education, research and public outreach. He will be deeply missed by all who knew him, especially his fellow Trustees and the leadership of the SETI Institute, said Diamond. Condolences poured in from Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry, government officials, friends and ordinary Pakistanis. Pakistani TV stations halted their routine broadcasts and shared the news. Salman Sufi, an adviser to Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, wrote on Twitter: “Very sad and unfortunate news. Prayers for the families of deceased. Mr Dawood and family are in our prayers.” With inputs from The New York Times and The Associated Press Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook ,  Twitter  and  Instagram .