British explorer and billionaire businessman among five confirmed names missing on Titanic sub
A British explorer and a billionaire businessman have been confirmed among the five names to be missing on the Titanic sub.
OceanGate, the company that took the tourists to visit the wreck of the Titanic, has previously confirmed that five crewmembers are on board the submersible, named the Titan, that has gone missing in the Atlantic Ocean.
In a statement they said: "Our entire focus is on the crewmembers in the submersible and their families.”
And now as they frantic search for the missing group continues, all five have been named.
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The five missing people are: Hamish Harding, Stockton Rush, Paul-Henry Nargeolet, Shahzada Dawood and his son Sulaiman.
All of them are believed to have been on the vessel that went missing on Sunday (18 June), with US Coast Guard officials saying the submarine has enough oxygen to last three days at most.
Four heartbroken families are now awaiting for news as the search operation continues over the North Atlantic.
US and Canadian rescuers are trying to locate where the missing submersible is after it vanished some 435 miles (700km) south of Newfoundland, Canada.
Sonar buoys are being dropped by aircraft near the wreckage site of the Titanic after officials lost contact with the small vessel just one hour and 45 minutes into the expedition.
Since then, no new contact has been established with the submersible or the five men on board.
So who are the five men missing?
Hamish Harding
Hamish Harding, 58, was one of the first named missing and is a billionaire businessman, aviator and space tourist.
While his roots stem from the UK, he is currently based in Dubai and also holds a number of Guinness World Records for his crazy challenges.
Prior to his Titanic voyage, the billionaire posted to social media: "A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow.”
It was Harding's step-son who confirmed he had gone missing.
Shahzada and Sulaiman Dawood
The father-son duo are believed to have been on the vessel - with Shahzada aged 48 and Sulaiman, the youngest of the men, at just 19.
"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," a family statement read.
Paul-Henry Nargeolet
Paul-Henry Nargeolet, 77, is a longtime researcher of the Titanic wreck, and a veteran submarine pilot.
Nargeolet even led the first recovery expedition to the Titanic back in 1987.
He has previously spoken of the dangers of sea travel.
"If you are 11m or 11km down, if something bad happens, the result is the same," he told the Irish Examiner in 2019.
"When you’re in very deep water, you’re dead before you realise that something is happening, so it’s just not a problem."
Stockton Rush
The fifth and final person missing is believed to be Stockton Rush - the CEO of OceanGate Inc.
He founded the firm back in 2009, in what one is of very few companies in the world that runs commercial voyages down to the Titanic.
Callum Jones