Titanic sub tragedy: What we know about those who died aboard the Titan

A renowned Titanic expert, a world record-holding adventurer, two members of one of Pakistan’s wealthiest families and the chief executive of the company leading an expedition to the world’s most famous shipwreck have died aboard the Titan submersible after it imploded in the Atlantic Ocean.

The US coast guard said there were no survivors after the catastrophic implosion deep in the North Atlantic.

The search for the submersible and its occupants — and any clues to explain what happened underwater — was ongoing on Friday after a deep-sea robot found debris near the Titanic shipwreck.

The expedition featuring the Titan 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 2200 passengers and crew.

A pilot and four other people were on the Titan. They were:

STOCKTON RUSH

* The Titan’s pilot

* Had a background in aerospace and technology but founded OceanGate Inc, a private company based in Washington, in 2009 to provide crewed submersibles for undersea researchers and explorers

* OceanGate started bringing tourists to the Titanic in 2021 as part of its effort to chronicle the slow deterioration of the wreck

* “The ocean is taking this thing, and we need to document it before it all disappears or becomes unrecognisable,” Rush said in 2021

* Defended the safety of his submersible in an interview with CBS News last year but said nothing was without risk

* “What I worry about most are things that will stop me from being able to get to the surface – overhangs, fish nets, entanglement hazard,” he said, adding a good pilot could avoid such perils

* Became the youngest jet transport-rated pilot in the world at age 19 in 1981 and flew commercial jets in college

* Joined McDonnell Douglas Corp in 1984 as a flight test engineer and oversaw the development of multiple successful IP ventures during the past 20 years

* Greg Stone, a longtime ocean scientist and a friend of Rush, called him “a real pioneer” in the innovation of submersibles

* “Stockton was a risk-taker. He was smart. He was, he had a vision – he wanted to push things forward,” Stone said

HAMISH HARDING

* British businessman lived in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates

* Action Aviation, an aircraft brokering company for which Harding served as chairman, said he was one of the mission specialists who paid to go on the expedition

* The billionaire adventurer held three Guinness World Records, including the longest duration at full ocean depth by a crewed vessel

* Dived to the lowest depth of the Mariana Trench with ocean explorer Victor Vescovo in March 2021

* Went into space on Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket in June last year

* Said in a Facebook post on Saturday he was “proud” to be part of the Titanic mission

* “Due to the worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years, this mission is likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023,” he posted

* Harding was “looking forward to conducting research” at the Titanic site,” Explorers Club president Richard Garriott de Cayeux said of his fellow club member

SHAHZADA AND SULEMAN DAWOOD

* Father-and-son Shahzada and Suleman Dawood were members of one of Pakistan’s most prominent families

* Their firm, Dawood Hercules Corp, based in Karachi, is involved in agriculture, petrochemicals and telecommunication infrastructure

* Shahzada Dawood was on the board of trustees for the California-based SETI Institute that searches for extraterrestrial intelligence

* The Dawoods lived in the UK, according to SETI

* Shahzada Dawood was also a member of the Global Advisory Board at the Prince’s Trust International, founded by King Charles III to address youth unemployment

* He had degrees from the University of Buckingham in the UK and Philadelphia University (now Thomas Jefferson University) in the US

* Condolences poured in from Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry, government officials, friends and ordinary Pakistanis

PAUL-HENRI NARGEOLET

* A former French navy officer considered a Titanic expert after making multiple trips to the wreckage across several decades

* Director of underwater research for E/M Group and RMS Titanic Inc

* Had completed 37 dives to the wreck and supervised the recovery of 5000 artefacts, according to his company profile

* RMS Titanic, Inc, the company that owns the salvage rights to the Titanic shipwreck, said the longtime employee known as “PH” was “an iconic and inspirational leader in deep-sea exploration”

* Friend and former colleague Matthew Tulloch said Nargeolet loved his work from the time they first collaborated in the 1990s up until his death

* Served as an expedition leader on the most technologically advanced dive to the Titanic in 2010, which used high-resolution sonar and 3D optical imaging on the vessel’s bow and stern sections and the debris field

* Led the first recovery expedition to the Titanic in 1987 for the French Institute for Research and Exploitation of Sea