An undated photo provided by OceanGate Expeditions in June 2021 shows the company's Titan submersible. AP

Gulf Today Report

A prominent Pakistani businessman and his son are among five people aboard a submersible that has gone missing while exploring the wreckage of the Titanic in the North Atlantic, their family said on Tuesday. Another passenger aboard the missing craft has been identified as UAE-based British businessman Hamish Harding.

The 21-foot (6.5-metre) tourist craft, operated by OceanGate Expeditions, began its descent on Sunday but lost contact with the surface less than two hours later, according to authorities.

Shahzada Dawood – the vice-chairman of Karachi headquartered conglomerate Engro – and his son Suleman were aboard the vessel, which is equipped with only 96 hours of oxygen supply, a family statement said.

"As of now, contact has been lost with their submersible craft and there is limited information available," the statement read.

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"A rescue effort that is being jointly led by multiple government agencies and deep-sea companies is under way to reestablish contact with the submersible and bring them back safely," it added.

"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."

Engro has an array of investments in energy, agriculture, petrochemicals and telecommunications. At the end of 2022 the firm announced a revenue of 350 billion rupees ($1.2 billion).

British billionaire Hamish Harding at the Kennedy Space Centre, Florida. File/Reuters

Shahzada's father Hussain Dawood is regularly listed among Pakistan's richest men by the domestic press.

Shahzada's profile on Engro's website said he also serves as a trustee on the board of The Dawood Foundation, a high-profile family education charity founded in 1960.

He was educated in the United States and Britain, the profile said.

Shahzada Dawood also is on the board of trustees for the California-based SETI Institute that searches for extraterrestrial intelligence.

Coastguards are scanning the remote area of the North Atlantic where the Titanic rests 400 miles (650 kilometres) off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, and some 13,000 feet (4,000 metres) underwater.

Rescuers in a remote area of the Atlantic Ocean raced against time early on Tuesday to find the missing submersible carrying five people on a mission to document the wreckage of the Titanic, the iconic ocean liner that sank more than a century ago.

The submersible named the Titan, part of a mission by OceanGate Expeditions, also carried a pilot and another passenger. Authorities reported the vessel overdue on Sunday night about 435 miles (700 kilometres) south of St. John’s, Newfoundland, according to Canada's Joint Rescue Coordination Centre.

Every passing minute, however, puts the Titan's crew at greater risk. The submersible had a 96-hour oxygen supply when it put to sea at roughly 6am on Sunday, according to David Concannon, an adviser to OceanGate.

US Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger talks to the media in Boston. AP

The Canadian research icebreaker Polar Prince, which was supporting the Titan, reportedly lost contact with the vessel about an hour and 45 minutes after it submerged. The Polar Prince will continue to do surface searches throughout the night and Canadian Boeing P-8 Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft will resume their surface and subsurface search in the morning, the US Coast Guard said on Twitter. Two US Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft also have conducted overflights.

In an email to The Associated Press, Concannon said he was supposed to be on the dive but could not go. He said officials were working to get a remotely operated vehicle that can reach a depth of 3.7 miles (6 kilometres) to the site as soon as possible.

OceanGate’s expeditions to the Titanic wreck site include archaeologists and marine biologists. The company also brings people who pay to come along, known as "mission specialists.” They take turns operating sonar equipment and performing other tasks in the five-person submersible.

The Coast Guard said on Monday that there was one pilot and four "mission specialists” aboard. However, OceanGate's website suggests that the fifth person aboard may be a so-called "content expert” who guides the paying customers.

OceanGate said its focus was on those aboard 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 reestablish contact with the submersible,” it said in a statement.

Praying for safety

British businessman Hamish Harding, who lives in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, was one of the mission specialists, according to Action Aviation, a company for which Harding serves as chairman. The company’s managing director, Mark Butler, told the AP that the crew set out on Friday.

"There is still plenty of time to facilitate a rescue mission, there is equipment on board for survival in this event,” Butler said. "We’re all hoping and praying he comes back safe and sound.”

Harding is a billionaire adventurer who holds three Guinness World Records, including the longest duration at full ocean depth by a crewed vessel. 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.

Harding was "looking forward to conducting research” at the Titanic site, said Richard Garriott de Cayeux, the president of The Explorers Club, a group to which Harding belonged.

"We all join in the fervent hope that the submersible is located as quickly as possible," he 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,” the statement said. "The family is well looked after and are praying to Allah for the safe return of their family members.”