OceanGate Expeditions’ Titan submarine has been missing since last Monday and a search and rescue operation by US authorities is currently underway off the coast of Canada. OceanGate Expeditions lost contact with its latest mission about 1h and 45 minutes after the submarine started descending on Sunday, 18 June. The company offers deep sea tourist dives to the wreckage of the Titanic at €250,000 per person.
Titanic’s wreck site is about 700km south of St John’s, Newfoundland, Canada. Both the US and Canadian coast guards, as well as the Canadian armed forces, have dispatched radar equipped ships and aircraft to search for the missing submarine. Commercial vessels in the area have also been notified to be on the lookout. These are the five members on board the Titan.
Paul-Henry Nargeolet
Paul-Henry Nargeolet is a former commander who served in the French Navy for 25 years. He held the position of captain of the deep-sea diving group, and according to the BBC, he was leader of the first Titanic recovery expedition. He was director of underwater research for Experiential Media Group and RMS Titanic.
Nargeolet has led several expeditions to the Titanic, completing 35 dives has been involved in numerous scientific expeditions around the world. He is considered an authority on the historic wreck.
Stockton Rush
Owner and founder of OceanGate Expeditions, Rush was also aboard the submarine. He is American and started his career as a pilot. At the age of 19, he became the youngest person in the world to fly a jet. Three years later he joined McDonnell Douglas, a company that manufactures airplanes, as a flight test engineer. According to the American press, Stockton Rush even created an experimental aircraft, the Glasair III, in 1989, which still flies today.
In 2009, he created OceanGate Expeditions, responsible for the Titanic expedition, which has created boats capable of reaching depths of 6,000 meters. The company is one of the most reputable when it comes to deep sea exploration. In 2012, he co-founded the OceanGate Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to advances in maritime technology, science, history and archaeology.
Hamish Harding
The 58-year-old Hamish Harding owns Action Aviation, a private jet sales company based in Dubai. Last year, he went into space aboard and a Blue Origin rocket. His family confirmed on social media that Hamish was aboard the Titan. He had shared on his Facebook page on June 17th that he was going on board the Titan to see the wreckage of the Titanic.
Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman
A Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood (48), and his son Suleman (19) are also among the five missing. They are both British citizens and belong to “one of the most respected families in Pakistan,” according to a statement released by Dawood Hercules, a family-run company.
Shahzada Dawood is a trustee of the Dawood Foundation, a charity founded in 1960 dedicated to education. Shahzada’s father, Hussain Dawood, is regularly quoted in the Pakistani press as one of the richest men in the country.
