A submersible, named Titan, is missing with five members of crew onboard (Picture: AP/Facebook/Fivedeeps/OceanGate)
The identities of all five crew members onboard the missing submersible near the site of the Titanic shipwreck have now been confirmed.
Rescue teams are facing a desperate race against time as the search for the tourist vessel, Titan, continues after it disappeared from contact in the Atlantic Ocean on Sunday.
According to the vessel’s operator, OceanGate Expeditions, there is a maximum oxygen supply of 96 hours in case of emergencies, meaning that only approximately two days of ‘life support’ remain.
British billionaire Hamish Harding is among those aboard the watercraft on a voyage to visit the famous shipwreck around 435 south of Newfoundland, Canada.
The company’s chief executive and founder, Stockton Rush, is also understood to be onboard, alongside French submersible pilot, Paul-Henry Nargeolet, according to Sky News.
Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son, Suleman, were also travelling on the sub into the depths of the ocean, their family have now confirmed.
A major search and rescue operation, which is being led by the US Coast Guard and involving military aircraft 900 miles east of Cape Cod, is ongoing.
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The Titan submersible that has gone missing (Picture: AP)
OceanGate Expeditions said its focus was on those aboard the vessel and their families.
‘We are deeply thankful for the extensive assistance we have received from several government agencies and deep sea companies in our efforts to re-establish contact with the submersible,’ the company said in a statement.
‘We are working toward the safe return of the crew members.’
The US Coast Guard said the Canadian research vessel Polar Prince and 106 Rescue wing will continue to conduct surface searches while the US Coast Guard sent two C-130 flights to search for the missing submersible.
Rear Admiral John W Mauger of the US Coast Guard said they are doing ‘everything’ they can to find the submersible, saying it has one pilot and four mission specialists aboard.
A closer look at the layout of the Titan submersible (Picture: Metro.co.uk)
He said yesterday: ‘We anticipate that there’s somewhere between 70 to the full 96 hours at this point Monday.
‘It is a remote area and a challenge, but we are deploying all available assets to make sure we can locate the craft and rescue the people onboard.’
Mark Butler, managing director of Action Aviation, added: ‘There is still plenty of time to facilitate a rescue mission, there is equipment on board for survival in this event. We’re all hoping and praying he comes back safe and sound.’
Here is a look at all five of the men onboard the missing submersible, Titan.
Hamish Harding
Caption: Hamish Harding
Provider: Facebook / Hamish Harding
Hamish Harding is the chairman of private plane firm Action Aviation, which said he is one of the mission specialists on the five-person OceanGate Expeditions vessel reported overdue on Sunday evening.
Mr Harding holds three Guinness World Records, including the longest duration at full ocean depth by a crewed vessel when in March 2021, he and ocean explorer Victor Vescovo dived to the lowest depth of the Mariana Trench. In June 2022, he went into space on Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket.
His cousin, Kathleen Cosnett, told The Daily Telegraph she saw Mr Harding as ‘daring’ and ‘inquisitive’, and that she was ‘devastated’ to learn he was missing.
On social media at the weekend, he said he was ‘proud to finally announce’ he would be aboard the mission to the wreck of the Titanic, the luxury ocean liner which hit an iceberg and sank in 1912, killing more than 1,500 people.
The Explorer’s Club, of which Mr Harding is a founding member of, shared the news of his disappearance on Instagram with club president Richard Garriot saying: ‘When I saw Hamish last week… his excitement about this expedition was palpable.
‘I know he was looking forward to conducting research at the site. We all join in the fervent hope that the submersible is located as quickly as possible and the crew is safe.’
Stockton Rush
Stockton Rush is the chief executive officer and founder of OceanGate Inc. (Picture: OceanGate)
Stockton Rush is the CEO and founder of OceanGate Inc, which is a company that provides crewed submersible services to enable researchers and explorers to access the vast resources of the ocean.
According to OceanGate’s website, he became the youngest jet transport rated pilot in the world when he obtained his DC-8 Type/Captain’s rating at the United Airlines Jet Training Institute in 1981 at the age of 19.
Discussing the Titanic, he told Sky News earlier this year: ‘What really strikes you is how beautiful it is.
‘You don’t normally see that on a shipwreck. It is an amazingly beautiful wreck.’
Paul-Henry Nargeolet
Paul-Henri Nargeolet is one of the leading experts on the Titanic shipwreck (Picture: Fivedeeps)
French Mariner Paul-Henry Nargeolet is one of the leading experts on the Titanic wreckage and was confirmed to be on the submersible by Mr Harding in a social media post on Saturday.
He wrote: ‘The team on the sub has a couple of legendary explorers, some of which have done over 30 dives to the RMS Titanic since the 1980s including PH Nargeolet.’
Born in Chamonix, France, he is considered a ‘leading authority’ on the Titanic. He is listed as the Director of Underwater Research for E/M Group and RMS Titanic, Inc.
Shahzada Dawood and Suleman Dawood
Shahzada Dawood is a trustee of the SETI Institute in California, according to a biography published on its website. According to the biography, he is vice chairman of Dawood Hercules Corporation, part of the Dawood Group.
The Dawood family said in a statement: ‘We are very grateful for the concern being shown by our colleagues and friends and would like to request everyone to pray for their safety while granting the family privacy at this time.
‘As of now, contact has been lost with their submersible craft and there is limited information available.
‘A rescue effort that is being jointly led by multiple government agencies and deep-sea companies is underway to reestablish contact with the submersible and bring them back safely.
‘We are very grateful for the concern being shown by our colleagues and friends and would like to request everyone to pray for their safety while granting the family privacy at this time. The family is well looked after and are praying to Allah for the safe return of their family members.’
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All five crew members have now been named.
