Titanic Titan and Pakistanis

On June 18, 2023, the submarine of the American tourism company Ocean Gate exploded in the deep sea, killing five people on board, and the incident occurred in the Northern Atlantic Ocean about 400 nautical miles (740 km) off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. The submarine, which was on a sightseeing tour to view the wreck of the Titanic, is believed to have exploded due to seawater pressure, killing all five people instantly, two of them were Pakistanis.

The US Coast Guard has confirmed that all five people in the Titan submarine have died. According to officials, parts of this recreational submarine have been found near the wreck of the Titanic.

The submarine was carrying the CEO of the Ocean Gate Company, a British billionaire adventurer, a French diver, and Pakistani Businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Sulaiman. According to the US Coast Guard, it is difficult to say at this time whether the dead bodies will be found or not.

Who Were Pakistanis?

The Dawood family is one of the richest families in Pakistan, but they also have deep ties to Britain. Shahzada Dawood was the Vice Chairman of ENGRO Corporation. The company operates in the fertilizer, food, and energy sectors. According to British media, Shahzada Dawood was born in Pakistan but later shifted to Britain. He studied law at the University of Buckingham, while he also holds an MSc in Global Textile Marketing from the University of Philadelphia.

Shahzada Dawood was also a trustee of the SETI Institute, a space research company. Some details about him are also provided on the institute’s website. According to these details, Shahzada Dawood was living in the UK with his wife Christine, and their children Sulaiman and Alina. He was fond of photography and was known as an animal lover. Shahzada Dawood was also the Vice Chairman of ‘Dawood Hercules Corporation’. Dawood Hercules Corporation is part of the Dawood Group and the family has been active in the business world for over a century.

A U.S. Navy official said in a media briefing that an unusual sound resemblance with an explosion was recorded shortly after the recreational submarine Titan lost contact in the Atlantic Ocean, which was probably caused by the destruction of the submersible.

The recreational submarine Titan set off for a fun trip to the wreck of the historic ship Titanic at a depth of 3,800 meters in the Atlantic Ocean, but less than two hours after the start of the journey, it lost contact with the surface ship Polar Prince. After more than four days of multinational rescue operations, the US Coast Guard confirmed that the missing submarine had been destroyed and all five people including two Pakistani-origin Britons on board have died.

US and Canadian agencies, navies, and commercial companies capable of deep-sea operations were part of the rescue operation. The operation was conducted from Boston, Massachusetts, and was supported by military aircraft and sonar buoys. Some of these ships carried ‘remotely operated vehicles’ (ROVs) which were used to locate the submarine on the seafloor.

According to the US Coast Guard, Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) will remain on the ocean floor and try to gather more information. Officials say, “It may not be possible to find the bodies of the dead as the sea environment at this location is very dangerous”. The part of the ocean where the Titanic wreck lies is called the ‘Midnight Zone’ because of the freezing temperatures and pitch darkness.

What is a Titanic Wreck Tour?

According to the Ocean Gate Company’s advertising campaign, this eight-day journey is an opportunity to step out of ordinary life and discover something extraordinary. On this tour, one can witness the wreckage of the Titanic at the surface of the North Atlantic Ocean. This small submarine carries a pilot plus three ticket-paying guest passengers. Apart from them, according to the company, an expert is also on board the submarine. The company has three submarines, of which only the Titan was capable of going that deep. The expedition began at St. Johns in Newfoundland. The weight of this submarine was 10432 kg and according to the website, it can go to a depth of 13100 feet. The submarine has life support for up to 96 hours. The Titanic, the largest ocean cruise of its time, sank in 1912 when it hit an iceberg on its maiden voyage to New York. More than 1,500 of the 2,200 passengers and crewmembers on board were killed. The wreckage of this ship was first discovered in 1985.

Some experts believe the environment and conditions under the sea, where the Titan submarine went, are as harsh and difficult as the outer space of the Earth. The deeper you go, the more the water above you presses you down. Although at the moment it is not clear what exactly caused the Titan submarine to explode, experts say it could have been caused by a slight weakness in its outer structure.

The pressure felt at sea level is called ‘one atmosphere’ or about 6.6 kilograms per square inch of pressure. This pressure doubles for every 10 meters of water depth. So the pressure at a depth of 3,000 meters, where the submarine was destroyed, was about 300 times greater than the surface pressure.

Few organisms can survive at this depth, extreme pressure, darkness, and cold, and they die soon after being brought to the surface.