A father and son are among the five people on board a submersible missing on a Titanic expedition in the North Atlantic.
UK media have identified Pakistani businessman, 48-year-old Shahzada Dawood, and his 19-year-old son Suleman as being on board the Titan, which lost contact with support ship the Polar Prince Sunday morning while descending to the Titanic wreck site.
OceanGate founder and CEO Stockton Rush (left) and UK billionaire Hamish Harding (right)
Also on board are OceanGate CEO and founder Stockton Rush, French submersible pilot Paul-Henri Nargeolet and UK billionaire Hamish Harding.
The Titan sends a ping to the surface to indicate that things are going well. The last ping was received on Sunday morning, and while the submersible is designed to use a variety of methods to get back to the surface, a search was called when it was reported overdue.
The US Coast Guard is leading the search effort with the help of the Canadian Coast Guard which is providing a C-130 aircraft, and a P-8 submarine search aircraft.
(Titan Submarine via OceanGate website.)
Technip FMC’s vessel the Deep Energy arrived on location this morning to help in the underwater search and rescue efforts for the submersible.
The company says further information, as it becomes available will be provided by the US Coast Guard.
The Deep Energy is joining the Polar Prince in searching the surface. The total search area completed as of this morning according to the US Coast Guard was 10,000 square miles.
Among those getting regularly briefed on the unfolding situation is Premier Andrew Furey. He shares his thoughts and prayers for the five people on board the vessel, for their families and for the crew on board the support vessel the Polar Prince.
He says he’s getting regular updates and has offered whatever support is available to aid in the search.
He’s spoken with both the US Ambassador and the UK High Commissioner to Canada, and while he understands there is a significant coordinated search underway he wanted to make sure they knew that Newfoundland and Labrador is willing to lend whatever assistance is needed.
We are all anxiously awaiting a positive outcome in the coordinated search for the Titan submersible and the people onboard. I have reached out to the @UKinCanada, @USAmbCanada, and Chief Misel Joe to offer our province's full support during this challenging situation. https://t.co/vCU3UKuLGA
— Premier of NL (@PremierofNL) June 20, 2023
