23 June 2023 (Media)

Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his 19-year-old son Suleman are among five people who perished aboard the Titanic tourist submarine.

Dawood studied Law at the University of Buckingham in 1998,  and was holding Master’s degree in Textile Marketing from University of Philadelphia in 2000. Son Suleman Dawood is a university student.

Pakistani businessman and his family members survived a ‘plane plunge’ in 2019.

As per the media reports, the family described Dawood as a loving father and said Suleman was a university student. He left behind daughter Alina, wife Christine, brother to three siblings, and son to Hussain & Kulsum Dawood.

“Shahzada has been actively advocating a culture of learning, sustainability, and diversity in his capacity as Vice Chairman of Pakistan’s Engro Corporation. Passionate about social impact, he works extensively with the Engro Foundation, The Dawood Foundation, the SETI Institute, and Prince’s Trust International.

“Out of the office, he has spoken passionately at the United Nations in 2020 on International Day for Women & Girls in Science and Oxford Union in 2022. His interests include photography, especially wildlife photography, and exploring different natural habitats while Suleman is a big fan of science fiction literature and learning new things.

“Suleman also takes a keen interest in solving Rubik’s Cubes and enjoys playing volleyball.”

Dawood, who was a business advisor serving on the board for Prince’s Trust International, lived in a Surrey mansion with his wife Christine, son Suleman and daughter Alina, according to MailOnline.

Among other passengers included British billionaire Hamish Harding, French adventurer Paul-Henri Nargeolet and Stockton Rush, the CEO and founder of OceanGate Expeditions, company owns Titan submarine that imploded after going missing on Sunday en route to the wreck of HMS Titanic around 370 miles east of the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.

The company was founded in Washington state in 2009 by US adventurer and former investment banker Stockton Rush.

The US Coast Guard announced on Thursday that the remains of the submersible vessel lost in the Atlantic Ocean had been found by an ROY (remotely operated vehicle) on the ocean bed near the wreck of the famed liner.

Its support vessel, the Canadian research icebreaker Polar Prince, lost contact with it approximately one hour and 45 minutes after it submerged on Sunday morning.

The wreckage of the Titanic which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after it hit an iceberg – is located at a depth of 12,500 feet. First discovered in 1985, the ship’s remains sit in two separate parts southeast of Newfoundland, the most easterly province of Canada.

A former employee had earlier filed a complaint, reads as “The viewport at the forward of the submersible was only built to a certified pressure of 1,300 meters, although OceanGate intended to take passengers down to depths of 4,000 meters’.

The trained aerospace engineer began offering underwater tours in specially designed submersible vessels that were developed with NASA.

In an interview with ‘ The Independent’ in 2017, he said he had originally wanted to become an astronaut but was later drawn to underwater exploration.

“In the vacuum of space, by definition there is nothing. That means a great view, but the final frontier for new life forms and discovery is undersea – for the next 200-300 years at least.”

Rush had personally piloted many of the Titan’s 13 previous trips to the famed shipwreck and had insisted the submersible was safe in interviews.