LONDON/KARACHI: Friends, well-wishers and colleagues of Engro Corp Vice Chairman Shahzada Dawood sent messages of support and hope as rescue teams made desperate efforts to locate the submarine he boarded on Sunday with his son.
On Tuesday, search parties raced against time to find the deep-diving submersible that went missing near the wreck of the Titanic, with five people on board and — as of Tuesday night — has an estimated 40 hours of oxygen left.
In a statement to the media, his family described the 48-year-old Mr Dawood as being a photography enthusiast. His 19-year-old university student son, Suleman, was a big fan of science fiction literature.
Social media was flooded with messages and prayers for the two missing British-Pakistanis, who live in Surrey, and had flown to Canada for the voyage.
His wife, Christine, and their daughter were on the mothership at the time of the submarine’s descent and await their safe return.
The Titanic site is about 1,450 km east of Cape Cod and 644 km south of St. John’s, Newfoundland.
Engro Corp put out a statement summarising the events surrounding the expedition, saying, “We at Engro remain in prayer for their swift and safe return...”
British billionaire Hamish Harding, French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, OceanGateCEO Stockton Rush are the other passengers on board the craft.
US and Canadian aircraft have searched about 7,600 square miles, larger than the state of Connecticut, Captain Jamie Frederick told reporters at a press conference on Tuesday.
The search, initially restricted to the ocean’s surface, was expanded under water on Tuesday.
The US Coast Guard said they had commenced a remotely operated vehicle dive at the last known location of the sub.
Published in Dawn, June 21st, 2023