Shahzada Dawood with his teenage son Suleman Dawood clicked moments before going on what would be their first and final expedition to see the Titanic wreck
A chilling image of the British Pakistani father and son, taken just moments before they boarded the doomed Titan submersible on 18 June has been released.
Shahzada Dawood, 58, and his 19-year-old son Suleman are seen pictured together, looking visibly happy and excited for the adventure. They were joined by three others in OceanGate’s submersible that was going to take them to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean to explore the Titanic wreckage.
However, the trip, which cost $250,000 per person, led to the death of all five people on board due to a “catastrophic implosion” about one hour and forty five minutes into the journey. Shahzada and Suleman were joined by Stockton Rush, 61, OceanGate\’s boss, French Titanic expert Paul Henry Nargeolet, 77 and 58-year-old British billionaire adventurer Hamish Harding.
The late businessman’s wife, Christine Dawood, has come forward and revealed that both the father and son spent their final moments before boarding the doomed vessel listening to their favourite music in total darkness to conserve power.
Mrs Dawood, who was initially supposed to go on the tour with her husband, gave her spot to her son instead. She was with her 17-year-old daughter Alina on board the submersible\’s mothership, Polar Prince, to wave off her husband and son on the adventure, which was a Father\’s Day gift.
According to reports, just three months before the trip, Stockton Rush and his wife Wendy had flown to London from the US, to meet the Dawood family and convince them that the submersible was safe.
This happened after the family made its concerns clear about the safety of the ship. Rush rejected the doubts and said that going to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean was “safer than crossing the street”.
He met them for a coffee close to Waterloo in February to personally address their concerns about the safety of the trip.
Mrs Dawood told the New York Times, “That engineering side, we just had no idea. I mean, you sit in a plane without knowing how the engine works.”
12 weeks later, the family set off on the trip after flying to Toronto on June 14 but their flight to St John\’s was cancelled so they had to wait an extra day.
The next day, they learned that their flight was delayed again and were worried that they might be able to make it on time to start the adventure.
Mrs Dawood said, “We were actually quite worried, like, oh my god, what if they cancel that flight as well? In hindsight, obviously, I wish they did.”
The vessel went missing 12,000ft below sea level 435 miles south of St John\’s, Newfoundland, Canada on 18 June, after which a massive search operation involving several nations took place.
There was a lot of speculation and discussions about the passengers likely being alive with just four days of oxygen left on board. However, after a few days of search, described as a “race against time”, a debris field was found by a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV), around 1,600 feet from the bow of the Titanic last week, the US Coast Guard revealed.
“Presumed human remains” and the debris of the ship have now been recovered by the US Coast Guard ship Sycamore and Horizon Arctic at the Canadian Coast Guard pier in St John\’s, Newfoundland.
Officials have said that an investigation to identify the human remains is underway.
