Titanic Sub Passengers: Who Was on the Submersible?

A wealthy aviation executive and adventurer, a respected Titanic shipwreck expert and the CEO of the company that put the tourist submersible in the sea are among those who died on the sub that was exploring the Titanic’s wreckage in the Atlantic Ocean in June 2023.

That’s according to the aviation executive’s stepson and company, and Sky News, which says that Hamish Harding, P.H. Nargeolet, and Stockton Rush, are among the five passengers.

The Coast Guard and OceanGate say the five men died when the submersible faced catastrophic failure. “We now believe that our CEO Stockton Rush, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood, Hamish Harding, and Paul-Henri Nargeolet, have sadly been lost,” the company said in a statement to CNN.

Rear Admiral John Mauger said in a news conference on June 22, 2023, that a remote-operated vehicle discovered the tail cone of the Titan lying 1,600 feet from the bow of the Titanic on the sea floor. “The degree is consistent with the catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber,” Mauger said.

“A debris field was discovered within the search area by an ROV near the Titanic. Experts within the unified command are evaluating the information,” the U.S. Coast Guard tweeted on June 22, 2023. BBC reported, according to a friend of passengers, that it was a landing frame and rear cover of the Titan submersible.

According to CNN, Shahzada Dawood, who comes from a prominent Pakistani business family, and his son, Sulaiman Dawood, are the final two passengers.

The submersible disappeared on Sunday June 18, 2023, while diving to explore the Titanic shipwreck, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

On June 19, 2023, OceanGate Expeditions, which ran the expedition, confirmed the sub was missing, writing on Instagram, “We are exploring and mobilizing all options to bring the crew back safely.”

“Our entire focus is on the crewmembers in the submersible and their families,” the statement continued. “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. We are working toward the safe return of the crewmembers.”

Here’s what you need to know about the missing Titanic sub’s passengers:

Stockton Rush, OceanGate CEO

LinkedInStockton Rush

Stockton Rush, 61, is the CEO of OceanGate Inc., the company whose tourist sub disappeared.

His wife, Wendy Rush, is the director of communications for OceanGate, an expedition team leader, and is on the tracking and comms team for the missing submarine, according to her LinkedIn page.

According to his OceanGate biography, Stockton Rush “is Chief Executive Officer and Founder (2009) of OceanGate Inc. Rush oversees OceanGate’s financial and engineering strategies and provides a clear vision for development of 4,000 meter (13,123 feet) and 6,000 meter (19,685 feet) capable crewed submersibles.”

The website notes that Rush “is a co-founder and member of the Board of Trustees of OceanGate Foundation (2012), a non-profit organization which aims to catalyze emerging marine technology to further discoveries in marine science, history, and archaeology.”

Rush’s LinkedIn page says he is based in Seattle, Washington.

Stockton Rush spoke with Sky News about the Titanic shipwreck in February 2023.

“What really strikes you is how beautiful it is,” he told the British news site.

According to his company bio, Rush was “the youngest jet transport rated pilot in the world” at age 19, and “served as a DC-8 first officer during college summers, flying out of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for Overseas National Airways under a subcontract from Saudi Arabian Airlines.”

He also worked for the McDonnell Douglas Corporation as a Flight Test Engineer, his bio says.

Princeton Alumni Weekly reported that Rush’s father’s ancestors “included two signers of the Declaration of Independence, Benjamin Rush and Richard Stockton.”

Over the past 20 years, the OceanGate bio says, Stockton Rush, the OceanGate CEO, “has overseen the development of multiple successful IP ventures. He served on the Board of Directors for Seattle’s BlueView Technologies, a manufacturer of small, high-frequency sonar systems.”

Hamish Harding, Billionaire Adventurer

Facebook (Hamish Harding)/GettyHamish Harding (r) with his son Giles Harding (m) and another man.

Hamish Harding is a billionaire who chairs Action Aviation, which confirmed to the Associated Press that he was on board the missing submarine.

According to Sky News, Brian Szaz, Harding’s stepson, posted on Facebook: “My stepdad Hamish Harding has gone missing on a submarine pray for a successful recovery.”

Szaz, a recording/mixing engineer, later wrote on Facebook, “For privacy my mom asked me to delete all related posts thanks for the support.”

Harding’s teenage son, Giles Harding, writes about their adventures on his Instagram page. According to One More Orbit, Harding’s wife is named Linda Harding, and they also have a son named Rory. Harding also has a stepdaughter named Lauren, that article reported, describing Hamish Harding as “an experienced jet pilot and aircraft broker, as chairman of his company Action Aviation.

Two days before the sub disappeared, Hamish Harding discussed the journey on Instagram.

“I am proud to finally announce that I joined @oceangateexped for their RMS TITANIC Mission as a mission specialist on the sub going down to the Titanic,” he wrote.

“Due to the worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years, this mission is likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023. A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow,” he wrote. “We started steaming from St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada yesterday and are planning to start dive operations around 4am tomorrow morning. Until then we have a lot of preparations and briefings to do.

One More Orbit reported that “Hamish’s many accomplishments include several aviation world records as well as travelling to the South Pole twice (first with Buzz Aldrin, and later with his son Giles, respectively the oldest and youngest persons ever to reach the South Pole).”

P.H. Nargeolet, Titanic Expert

EM GroupPaul-Henry Nargeolet.

Paul Henri Nargeolet is a Titanic expert and French explorer. He was married to former New York news anchor Michele Marsh, who died of breast cancer in 2017, according to her obituary in The New York Times.

According to his company bio on the website of EM group, Nargeolet is “widely considered the leading authority” on the Titanic wreck. The website says he is a “renowned Titanic expert, having led six expeditions to the Titanic wreck site and lectured at numerous Titanic exhibitions around the world. He’s known as ‘Titanic’s Greatest Explorer.'”

On LinkedIn, Nargeolet gives his location as Kent, Connecticut, and his title as “Director of Underwater Research Program at Premier Exhibitions, RMS Titanic, Inc.”

According to his LinkedIn page, Nargeolet is a former commander, sub pilot, ship captain, clearance diver and deep diver for the Marine Nationale, which is the French Navy.

According to EM Group, Nargeolet is “widely considered the leading authority on the wreck site, P.H. has led several expeditions to Titanic, completed 35 dives in the submersible himself, and supervised the recovery of 5,000 artifacts, including the recovery of the ‘big piece’ a 20-ton section of Titanic’s hull (now on display in Las Vegas).”

According to the site, in 2010, the French-born Nargeolet “served as the expedition leader on the most technologically advanced dive to Titanic spearheading the first comprehensive survey map of the Ship, including imaging the bow and stern sections and her entire artifact debris field in high-resolution sonar and 3D optical imagery.”

Shahzada Dawood & His Son, Sulaiman Dawood

According to CNN, the Dawoods “are a prominent Pakistani business family. Dawood Hercules Corporation, their business, is among the largest corporations in the country.”

CNN noted that Shahzada Dawood leads a division in the family company.

A World Economic Forum biography for Shahzada Dawood says he “joined the Board of Engro Corporation in 2003 and currently serves as the Vice-Chairman. He has over two decades of experience in corporate governance and the transformation of industries, including growth and innovation opportunities through mergers and acquisitions of diversified public-listed companies across textiles, fertilizers, foods, and energy.”

That bio continues:

Shahzada is a leading voice in the institutionalization of key international networks and contacts. He aspires to a sustainable future and believes in inclusive business models involving low-income communities building value chains along business interests. In line with this, Shahzada serves as Trustee on the Boards of both Engro Foundation and The Dawood Foundation. In addition, he is a member of the Global Advisory Board for Prince Charles’ Charity, Prince’s Trust International. In December 2020, he also joined the Board of Trustees of the SETI Institute. Shahzada serves as Director across Boards of various industries, including investment holdings like Dawood Corporation (Pvt) Ltd, Dawood Hercules Corporation Ltd, and Patek (Pvt) Ltd. Shahzada holds an M.Sc. in Global Textile Marketing from Philadelphia University, USA, and a LLB from Buckingham University, UK.

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