Prominent Pakistani – British businessman & Engro Vice Chairman, Shahzada Dawood & his son are among the passengers on the missing Titan submersible. As rescue operations are underway, find out more.
The tour firm OceanGate operating a sea mission for wealthy adventures, offers visits to the Titanic wreckage since 2021, to view it with their own eyes. The tickets cost $250,000 for an eight-day trip including dives to the wreck at the depth of 12,500 ft. To visit the wreck, passengers climb inside Titan, a five-passenger submersible, which then takes two hours to descend about 12,500 feet (3,800 m) to the Titanic, 900 nautical miles east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Their recent mission submerged this past Sunday morning and lost contact with the vessel just an hour and a half after its dive to the historic site of Titanic’s wreckage. Moreover, it also lost contact with its mother ship “Polar Prince” a Canadian research icebreaker posted an hour and 45 minutes as informed by the US coast guard.
The US Coast guard officials have revealed, the US Coast Guard is relying on the mothership, commercial and private boat operators already at sea in nearby waters for help in recovery, 435 miles south of St John’s, Newfoundland. The commander of the Coast Guard, Rear Adm. John Mauger who is leading the search has said, authorities received a call from the expedition company OceanGate on Sunday afternoon after the crew lost contact and the submersible exceeded its return time. Subsequently, the Coast Guard had also immediately launched a surface and aerial search to recover the submersible and the passengers.
Having not yielded any results as yet, the frantic search continues for the missing submersible but what is dreadful is the vessel only has about 28 hours of oxygen left as of Wednesday morning. There has been news from US government communications reporting “banging sounds in the area every 30 minutes” and thus relocating the search. We are earnestly praying for the rapid recovery of the passengers. Shahzada Dawood and his son 18 year old Suleman, are aboard the missing submersible among the 5 passengers. The Engro corporation has shared a statement concerning the disappearance.
Here are 5 things to know about Shahzada Dawood as we know them.
1. Pakistan’s Top MNC Engro Corporation’s Vice Chairman
Shahzada Dawood belongs to one of Pakistan’s wealthiest families and is vice chairman of Engro Corporation with a background in textiles and fertilizer manufacturing. Engro has a wide array of investment portfolios in energy, agriculture, petrochemicals and telecommunications. At the end of 2022 the firm announced a revenue of 350 billion rupees ($1.2 billion).
2. Cultivated Interest In Natural Habitats, Renewable Energies & Extraterrestrials
The BBC has reported Shahzada Dawood to have an ardent interest in exploring natural habitats and renewable energies. As per our research he is also on the board of trustees of the SETI institute in California which specializes in its research on extraterrestrial life. From microbes to alien intelligence, the SETI Institute is America’s only dedicated organization in search for life on the universe.
3. Running The Dawood Hercules Corporation Ship
Shahzada Dawood also runs the telecom and agriculture-based Dawood Hercules Corporation Limited, a family business for over a century which he joined in 1996, as well as the Dawood Foundation, focused on developing education access in Pakistan. The Dawood Hercules family has a wide range of industries within their portfolio and Shahzada has been key in finding growth and innovation opportunities through numerous mergers, acquisitions, and divestments in energy, agri-nutrients, consumer foods, petrochemicals, and textiles for diversified public-listed companies.
4. Personal Life
Shahzada Dawood has received an LLB from Buckingham University, UK and further went on to receive an M.Sc. in Global Textile Marketing from Philadelphia University in the USA. He lives in the UK with his German born wife, Christine, his children – Sulaiman and Alina and his pet dog Stig and a cat named Proteus. He is said to be fond of photography and is a passionate animal lover.
5. Philanthropist
His philanthropic ventures consist of his role as the Trustee of The Dawood Foundation and supporting its education initiatives for Dawood Public School, Dawood College of Engineering, and Karachi School of Business and Leadership (KSBL) – helping the country progress in the education sector up to university level. He is also a Board Member on Engro Foundation, an organization focusing to boost social and economic impact. Dawood believes in more inclusive business models that involve low income communities while simultaneously building a value chain for the group’s business stakes.
With every passing minute, hope strangles while the oxygen levels in the submarine possibly decline. We are fervently praying for the passengers in the submersible to be rescued. Sending heartfelt prayers for the families of the passengers grappling with the ordeal.
