What to Know
- A graduate of the former Philadelphia University is one of the five people aboard a small submersible that vanished near the wreckage of the Titanic.
- Shahzada Dawood has degrees from the University of Buckingham in the United Kingdom and Philadelphia University (now Thomas Jefferson University) in the U.S.
- Dawood, his son Suleman, British adventurer Hamish Harding, French explorer and Titanic expert Paul-Henry Nargeolet and pilot Stockton Rush, the CEO of the company leading the expedition, are all on board the submersible.
A graduate of the former Philadelphia University is one of the five people aboard a small submersible that vanished near the wreckage of the Titanic.
The submersible Titan was reported overdue Sunday night about 435 miles (700 kilometers) south of St. John’s, Newfoundland, according to Canada’s Joint Rescue Coordination Center, spurring a desperate international rescue effort.
The expedition was led by OceanGate, making its third voyage to the Titanic, which struck an iceberg and sank in 1912, killing all but about 700 of the roughly 2,200 passengers and crew.
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A pilot and four other people are on the Titan. They include father and son Shahzada and Suleman Dawood who are members of one of Pakistan’s most prominent families.
Shahzada Dawood has degrees from the University of Buckingham in the United Kingdom and Philadelphia University (now Thomas Jefferson University) in the U.S.
He is a member of the Global Advisory Board at the Prince’s Trust International, founded by Britain's King Charles III to address youth unemployment as well. He is also on the board of trustees for the California-based SETI Institute that searches for extraterrestrial intelligence. The Dawoods live in the UK, according to SETI.
Their firm, Dawood Hercules Corp., based in Karachi, is involved in agriculture, petrochemicals and telecommunication infrastructure.
The other passengers include British adventurer Hamish Harding, who lives in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates as well as French explorer and Titanic expert Paul-Henry Nargeolet. At the helm is pilot Stockton Rush, the CEO of the company leading the expedition.
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An expanding international armada of ships and airplanes is currently searching for the submersible.
U.S. Coast Guard officials said the search covered 10,000 square miles (26,000 square kilometers) but turned up no sign of the lost sub known as the Titan. Although rescuers planned to continue looking, time was running out because the vessel would have less than two days of oxygen left if it is still intact and functioning.
