Titan sub: Billionaire’s Father’s Day bonding with son ends in disaster
MANILA, Philippines — Pakistani business tycoon Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his son Suleman, 19, were among the five fatalities after the OceanGate submersible Titan was found to have imploded 1,600 feet from the bow of the Titanic wreckage in the Atlantic Ocean, the US Coast Guard announced earlier today.
Together with them were British billionaire Hamish Harding, OceanGate Chief Executive Officer Stockton Rush, French Navy veteran and global Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet.
Azmeh Dawood, Shahzada’s older sister, told NBC News that Shahzada and Suleman signed up for the trip for Father’s Day bonding. Last Sunday, Father’s Day, the Titan sub went missing after losing communication with its mothership less than two hours into its descent toward the Titanic.
Azmeh said Suleman told a relative that the teenager was “terrified” to join the trip and “wasn’t very up for it” but he still pushed through to please his father, who had been very keen to see the shipwreck.
“I am thinking of Suleman, who is 19, in there, just perhaps gasping for breath... It's been crippling, to be honest,” Azmeh said. “I feel disbelief. It's an unreal situation.”
She said that up to the last minute, she and their relatives hoped for a miracle. She felt like being “caught caught in a really bad film, with a countdown, but you didn't know what you're counting down to.”
“Personally, I found it kind of difficult to breathe thinking of them,” she said. “It's been unlike any experience I've ever had.”
Reports said the father and son and heirs to the Dawood business dynasty paid $250,000 (P13.9 million) each for the ride.
According to Azmeh, she wouldn’t go aboard the Titan even if offered a million dollars.
Members of the Dawood family gathered at the last spot above the water where the sub was last seen. Shahzada and Suleman were survived by Shahzada’s wife and Suleman's mom Christine and Shahzada's daughter and Suleman's sister Alina, who were at the search site.
The Dawoods are among the richest families in Pakistan. They also hold British citizenship and live in Surrey, England. Before death, Suleman was a student at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland.
The Dawood Foundation, in a statement, said that the family is in “difficult period of mourning.”
“We are truly grateful to all those involved in the rescue operations,” the statement read. “Their untiring efforts were a source of strength for us during this time.”
RELATED: Inside Titan sub: Past passengers recall 'suicide mission' to visit Titanic wreck
